Of Alchemists and Mutants
by metgear5
Summary: When an experiment involving alchemy inadvertently crosses with a similar experiment on another world Ed and Al will have to deal with new 'alchemists' in the form of the X-Men and Brotherhood.
1. Infinite possibilities

Chapter 1: Infinite possibilities

Another World: Another Time

"Before we begin just let me tell you what an honor it is that such interest had been taken in our work." An excited voice told his audience, none of who were in the mood for flattery.

"Dr. Thomas, I believe you called us here for a reason." A calm voice responded.

"And you didn't say why you needed us." A second younger, and more annoyed, voice put in.

"Please excuse Fullmetal's attitude." The first voice said. "He has a habit of talking before he thinks." Edward Elric glared at his commanding officer but Colonel Mustang ignored it. "He does bring up a valid point however. I was under the impression that your work didn't involve alchemy."

"At first it didn't." Dr. Thomas explained. "Not directly at least. Then several days ago we had a breakthrough that you, and young master Edward in particular, will be most interested in."

"I doubt all of us would have been sent here if it was thought otherwise." Mustang answered. They were all currently standing in front of a castle, an honest to goodness castle, about a two-hour train ride away from the boy's hometown of Reesembol. In addition to both the Elric brothers and Mustang the military had sent Major Armstrong, Lieutenant Hawkeye, and Lt. Colonel Hughes to investigate their findings.

"Of course of course." Thomas said and motioned them to come inside. The outside of the castle had an ancient and worn look to it. On the inside it was worse. Stone walls that seemed to be ready to crumble, shadows that seemed to form by themselves and take a life all their own. Wooden doors that were rotted and splintered, and every piece of metal they saw seemed to be nothing but rust. They even caught a glimpse of something moving that was either a small dog or a very large rat.

"Boy this place almost makes Lab 5 look cheerful." Ed whispered to his brother.

"But why would they set up a laboratory here?" Al whispered back. To him it looked like the last place someone would want to put one.

"Because it's hidden in plain site." Dr. Thomas replied. Apparently the two hadn't been whispering quietly enough. "If you happen to walk by this place it's noticeable, but all you would see is a run down castle, not a top secret lab. Uninvited guests are also very unlikely. The military owns this place and all the land surrounding it, unofficially of course."

"So who did you have to steal it from?" Ed asked sarcastically.

"No one." Thomas answered confidently. "It was actually left to the State by its original owner. Another State scientist, Victor I believe his name was. His last name escapes me at the moment but that's not important now. What is important is this." They came to a large pair of metal doors that, unlike the rest of the castle, were brand new and looked like they could withstand anything. The two soldiers guarding the door saluted at the sight of so many officers. "How many times do I have to tell you there's no need for that." Thomas said as he began to work one of the many locks on the door. The guards glanced at each other nervously then at Mustang, being the highest rank in the group. The Colonel nodded and the guards dropped their salutes.

(Looks like military discipline is a bit lax here.) Mustang thought to himself. It wasn't that surprising, civilians ran most of the operations but so long as they got results things like this could be overlooked.

With the clicking of lock tumblers the door began to open and they got their first good look at the main lab. The room was originally a huge dinning hall that had been stripped of everything and now housed a multitude of generators and electric cables. Along with all of this numerous panels filled with switches and gauges, whose functions they couldn't even begin to guess, and scientists moving from post to post to monitor the equipment. At the center of the room all the cables lead to a metal platform raised several feet above the ground. The platform itself was nothing special but on opposite sides of it stood two ten foot tall metal towers, each lined with metal rings and topped with a large metal sphere. (A/N: Think Tesla coils)

"Now I could explain to you how this works in detail but I believe a demonstration would be much more beneficial." Thomas said as the group examined, or in Ed and Al's case stared wide-eyed, at the technology that surrounded them. "If the Major would be good enough to lend us one of his gauntlets..."

"Sir?" Armstrong asked.

"Go ahead." Mustang answered. Armstrong handed one of his spiked gauntlets to Thomas.

"Yes, this will work quite nicely. Now for you to really see the effects of this machine you should give your other gauntlet to someone else. It doesn't matter who just make sure that everyone can see it." Now he was getting quizzical looks from both Armstrong and Mustang.

"I'll hold it." Al volunteered. Thomas hadn't said it would be dangerous but Al didn't want to chance someone getting hurt. He was also a bit eager to participate in the experiment, even though nobody knew what would happen.

"That would be perfect." Thomas said as he walked up the stairs leading to the platform. "Just hold it in your hand but keep it open." Al did as he was told and had the gauntlet in the palm of his open hand. Thomas put the second gauntlet in the center of the platform and came back to the group.  
"Power on!" He shouted. On his order generators began to hum to life. Slowly the hum became louder and louder until it turned into a mutated roar. The newcomers nervously glanced down at the floor, which was now vibrating so hard Al was starting to rattle. Without warning what looked like a bolt of lightning flew from one of the spheres on the right tower to the one on the left. Mustang was the only on who didn't flinch.

"Heh, nice light show." Hughes commented. More lightning began jumping back and forth between the towers. "Is it supposed to be doing that?" He asked nervously.

"We haven't even gotten to the best part yet." Thomas replied with a grin. "Capacitor charge?" He asked another scientist.

"All full." Came the reply.

"Open them!" Thomas shouted. The towers started to glow blue and began to throw off erratic, and very large, sparks. Just when it looked like they were about to explode both spheres shot even larger bolts of lightning right at Armstrong's gauntlet. This time Mustang flinched along with the others, fully expecting an explosion and flying shrapnel. Neither happened and only the sound of energy being discharged filled the air. As the group looked over at the platform they saw something. Something one person immediately recognized.

"It…It…can't be." Ed stammered.

"What's wrong?" Al asked, seeing the recognition in his brother's eyes. "What is it?"

"The Gate." Thomas answered. He held his hand up as all of them looked at him, Ed with murder in his eyes. "Before you say anything take a closer look." He said, pointing at the Gate. Instead of the endless darkness there was a swirling mass of gray that started to take shape. Soon they began to see something made of gray metal, with an alchemy symbol on the top, being held by a gray metal hand…

Al gave a slight shriek and dropped the gauntlet. The image in the gate became blurry again but quickly reformed to show the gauntlet lying on the floor. All turned to Thomas, who had a triumphant smile on his face.

"How…?" Mustang began to ask but again Thomas held up his hand.

"Cut it!" He ordered. Power was shut off and the Gate disappeared. Once the noise was gone he waited for Mustang to continue. Ed beat him to the punch.

"Are you crazy?!?!" He shouted at Thomas. "Don't you know how dangerous the Gate is?!?!"

"Of course." Thomas answered calmly. "But what you saw wasn't the Gate everyone is familiar with." Ed was about to go off again but stopped himself after what Thomas said had sunk in. It left him with his mouth wide open and an expression that said 'Huh?' Seeing the boy's confusion Thomas continued. "This Gate wasn't formed by alchemy, so it had few properties of the one that took your brother." He nodded toward Al.

"How did you know about that?" Ed growled.

"This project has the full support of the Fuehrer. As such we have access to information that otherwise would not be known." Thomas answered. "Outside the three of them," He gestured towards the other scientists. "And myself no one knows the full story about you and your brother. I can assure you that we are all quite good at keeping secrets." Ed still looked angry but he had to take Thomas' word. "Getting back to business. After some experimentation we found that this new Gate has the ability to home in on certain objects with similar properties. In the case of alchemy.." He said as he walked up to the platform and retrieved Armstrong's gauntlet. "If the two items are similar in the way they perform alchemy it will focus in on the second." He pointed at Armstrong's second gauntlet.

"So you managed to create a new Gate that can find items that have the same alchemy abilities." Mustang said. "What does this have to do with us?"

"In actuality it has to do with them mostly." Thomas answered, pointing to Ed and Al. "As I said I've read up on you and I know what you two are searching for." He reached into his pocket and brought something out. "I'm sure everyone knows what this is." He said, opening his hand. In his palm was a small red stone.

"It's a fake philosophers stone. So what?" Ed asked. This conversation seemed to be going nowhere and he didn't like it.

"This is half of the reason we called you here." Thomas answered. "After we discovered the properties of this new Gate we decided to use this fake to try and find the true philosophers stone. With the fake and real stones so similar we hoped the Gate would find the real one for us." He explained as he walked back up to the platform and put the stone in the center of it.

"Wouldn't it look for another fake stone instead?" Al asked. "Two fakes are going to be more alike then a fake and a real stone."

"Very perceptive Al." Thomas commended as he stepped off the platform and back to the group. "We knew the possibility of that happening was rather high but we got an unsuspected surprise when we actually tried it." He nodded to the other scientists, who restarted the machine. Once it was up to power the new Gate was again opened and a new vision began to take focus. Only this time it was something that seemed to have nothing in common with the item on the platform.

"I thought you said this machine would seek out something similar to what you placed on it." Mustang commented. "That looks nothing like a philosophers stone." Indeed it didn't. It looked to be a little bigger then the fake stone, about the size of a large person's knuckle. What really showed that this wasn't the stone they were looking for was its color. Instead of red this stone was yellow, and seemed to glow with power.

"Why can't we see where it is?" Ed asked. Unlike Armstrong's gauntlet there was nothing to show where this new stone was located. Instead there seemed to be just a bunch of swirling fog surrounding it.

"Because what you are seeing is the effect of the new stone itself. Our best guess is that it is literally bending and warping reality, but with no one apparently controlling it." He turned towards the group. "If this is only an inert state then we can assume that the philosophers stone's power would be dwarfed by this new one." Al's 'eyes' seemed to double in size, almost blocking out the rest of his face, and Ed's jaw was practically hitting the floor. The others were also visibly surprised, all except Mustang. Taking a closer look at the new stone he then turned back to face Thomas.

"How can you be certain of your claim?" He asked. He was approaching this with a healthy amount of skepticism; his rank wasn't Colonel for nothing. "It also seems odd that a fake stone would find a different, not to mention more powerful, type of stone."

"Certainty is never guaranteed in situations like this." Thomas admitted with a nervous cough. "As for why it found this new stone we can't say, but we shouldn't turn down an opportunity like this. Think of the possibilities Colonel, with power like this they're literally infinite."

"That's what worries me." Mustang responded. True this new stone had great potential, but power like this was always a double-edged sword. If this stone were to fall into the hands of people like the ones running Lab 5, well the results would be far from good. On the other hand if he refused to help the doctor could just go to people like that and get them to help him. If the stone was in the possession of his own people at least then they'd have an opportunity to defend it. Making his decision he turned back towards Thomas "In the letter we received you asked for Full Metal specifically. Why?" Now seeing that they were going to help Thomas' expression brightened.

"That is the other half." He simply stated as he picked up a nearby book. He threw it at the gate with all his strength but the book just bounced off and landed on the floor. "We've tried everything we could think of. More power, different variations and settings, we even became desperate enough to try brute force. Guns, dynamite, nothing worked. We could look but we could never pass through. Then the other day something very fortunate happened. One of our mechanics was using alchemy to repair part of the floor while one of our tests was in progress. There was a disturbance in the Gate and it actually seemed to become weaker, like glass when it begins to melt. It was barely noticeable but it was there. We found the doorway but alchemy was the key to opening it. What we needed was a strong alchemist to break the door down and who better to do so then the legendary Fullmetal?"

"Wait a minute!" Ed interrupted. "You want me to open that thing?" He asked pointing at the Gate. "No way! Do you have any idea what might happen if your guess is wrong?!"

"Yes, something like what happened to you and your brother." Thomas answered. "But we are also a bit more well informed then you were when you tried to manipulate the Gate." Ed would have lunged at the scientist if Al hadn't grabbed his shoulder.

"Brother please." Al pleaded, trying to keep Ed's temper in check.

"NO!!" Ed shouted, shaking off Al's grip. "If this guy wants to kill himself fine, but we're not going to help him!! Come on Al, this was nothing but a big waste of time." He started to storm out of the room and Al looked like he was debating whether or not to follow him.

"And what will you do Ed?" Thomas asked. "Continue searching for something that might not even exist anymore? All that effort to restore yourself and your brother only to end up with nothing." Ed spun around and glared at the scientist. "We've discovered something that can do exactly the same, and it's right there." He pointed back to the yellow stone. "Are you just going to abandon an opportunity like this?"

"Messing with the Gate…" Ed began through clenched teeth. Thomas waved it off with a wave of his hand.

"What will we be violating Ed?" He asked the boy. "This isn't human transmutation, it's not a resurrection. We are simply trying to create a pathway from one place to another. It's no different then if you used your alchemy to create a door in a solid wall." Ed's demeanor began to change. He could see what Thomas was talking about but there was still one thing.

"What about equivalent exchange?" Al asked, mirroring his brother's concern.

"We're giving all this power, and if necessary the fake philosophers stone, in exchange for a creating a road to where this new stone is. I'd call that a fair trade wouldn't you?" Thomas asked.

"And what about whoever has to go through to get the stone?" Ed asked.

"I'm going through." Thomas said. "It's my project and I'm going to take the risk." Ed looked at his automail arm, then over to his brother. Bringing his metal hand into a fist he looked over at the Gate.

"What do you want me to do?"

Antarctica: Another world, that same time

Another in a series of explosions rocked the already battered facility. Inside the heavily fortified main chamber a group of five turned to look at the entrance. Their leader kept his eyes forward, ignoring the tremors the explosions were causing.

"How long?" He asked calmly. Several feet away at a computer terminal a meek looking scientist looked at the digital countdown.

"Three minutes sir." The man turned his head towards the scientist. Even though his eyes were obscured by the helmet he was wearing the scientist could feel the glare the man was giving him.

"You assured me the connection wouldn't take this long." The man stated just as calmly. That scared the scientist more then if he had shouted.

"The equipment wasn't designed to be used in combat conditions." Another scientist who was monitoring power fluctuations said. "If you had chosen a world closer to our own…"

"There were reasons I did not do that. Reasons you are more then aware of." The man responded.

"I agreed to work for you because you were willing to take steps they wouldn't. I'm just suggesting…"

"Your services are limited to providing me the means to achieve my goals, not telling me how to accomplish them." The man warned.

"It would be a stretch I suppose. Magneto taking the advice of a human." The scientist said, making the second one turn white. Magneto's eyes were still hidden by his helmet but there was no question his glare hardened. If he didn't need this piece of human trash so badly he would have killed him on the spot. Another tremor shook the room, closer this time. Now Magneto turned and looked at the door, shaking his head. What he was attempting to do should be considered a blessing for Xavier and the X-men, yet they refused to see it that way.

It had begun several months ago, and was sill almost impossible to believe. The discovery of an alternate Earth, wholly different from this one. Alternate Earths were not an unknown concept but all known alternates were a result of deviations in this world's time line, be it past or future. But this world, it had nothing in common with the one Magneto knew. Its superpowered beings were embraced, almost worshiped, by the human population. That Earth's main superhero team, the so-called Justice League, had needed to team with the Avengers to defeat a cosmic entity that threatened to destroy both universes. That threat was now gone but the fact that a new, and potentially limitless, number of alternate worlds existed was enough to convince the powerful and wealthy to put an incredible amount of money and effort to find out just what sort of worlds existed. The U.S. government, Stark Enterprises, even Reed Richards was rumored to be part of this new project. The breakthrough had come several weeks prior but so far a policy of watch but not interfere had been initiated. Good intentions or bad there was to be no manipulation of the local population. Magneto, however, had no such moral conflict.

He had many spies and contacts in high places, even within the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. It was through them that he had learned about the first alternate Earth and the project to find other ones. Using those connections he had procured the equipment and manpower to build his own machine. He had spent many long hours searching through alternates, looking for a world where mutants would not suffer as they had on this one. He briefly considered going to the first alternate, but even there he would be considered a criminal. Eventually he had found a world that would suit his needs. The humans of that world were constantly at war, and their technology was laughable even by the human standards of this world. There was nothing resembling X-men or Avengers so they would be helpless against the powers the Brotherhood wielded. In the cosmic scale the humans of this world would not be missed if exterminated. In fact, it would only be a quickening of what they were doing to themselves. To accomplish this he had gathered five of his best, the most powerful and loyal he commanded. They would go and establish a beachhead in this new world, then send for reinforcements when they were properly dug in.

A third tremor reminded Magneto why this plan was no longer feasible. The X-men had somehow discovered his plans and set out to stop him. Short sighted fools. They wanted to stay and protect humans that were beyond all hope, instead of allowing mutants to take their rightful place on the top of the evolutionary ladder. The door to the chamber began to glow red, then white, and finally exploded inward. Six of the X-men entered, led by Xavier's prize pupil, Cyclops.

"I would think even Xavier would see the wisdom in allowing me to leave this world peacefully." Magneto told the X-men.

"Not when you're planing to destroy another one." Cyclops answered.

"A world that would be far better without humans, much like this one." Magneto replied. "You have never been able to see the logic in that, and I doubt you ever will." Both sides tensed up, preparing for the fight they knew was coming.

Gate Laboratory

"You're sure about this?" Ed asked as he tightened the harness he was now wearing.

"As sure as I can be." Thomas answered, checking his own harness. Both harnesses were attached to ropes that were being held by Major Armstrong. The original plan was to have them attached to pulleys but the Major said he would be able to pull them out of danger faster. Since Ed and Thomas had to stand right next to the new Gate a quick exit was something they would need if anything went wrong. "Remember, don't think of anything specific. Just put as much energy as you can directly into the Gate."

"You got it." Ed replied. Thomas just nodded and put both hands on the Gate, pushing slightly. He wanted to go through at the first opportunity, and that might only be a brief window of time. Exhaling a deep breath to calm himself Ed clapped his hands together, concentrated, and slapped both of them to the Gate.

The result of the alchemy energy influx was not what Thomas and the others had predicted but thankfully it wasn't what Ed had feared either. The Gate flashed and discharged a pulse of energy that knocked Ed and Thomas off the platform and onto the floor. Before either of them could register what happened both were being unceremoniously dragged across the floor and back towards the others.

"Brother!" Al shouted, rushing over to Ed. Ed groaned and sat up. He was in one piece and still awake, which was more then he had expected if something went wrong with this thing.

"I'm all right." He assured his brother. "What happened?" He asked as he turned to face Thomas and discovered the scientist was already up and looking at the equipment.

"I don't understand. The power levels are higher but nothing else has changed."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that Doctor." Mustang remarked as he glanced back at the Gate. Instead of the new stone and the fog surrounding it the Gate was now solid black.

Marvel Earth

It happened quickly. There was a flash of light and a slight shockwave but that was enough to make both the X-Men and Brotherhood forget about each other and concentrate on the portal Magneto had created. Before it had been a glowing mass of red energy resembling a whirlpool. Now it had turned into a black energy sphere.

"What's happening?!" Magneto shouted to the brash scientist.

"I don't know!" The scientist shouted back, furiously typing at his computer. "It looks like we've encountered some sort of energy anomaly but we don't…"

He didn't get to finish as two black lightning bolts shot from the anomaly, one striking the gathered X-men, one striking the Brotherhood before either had a chance to defend themselves. As quickly as the bolts came forward they retreated back into the anomaly, taking both groups of mutants with them. As the two scientists watched the anomaly flashed several times before disappearing, like it had never been there.

"Shouldn't you be shutting this thing down?!?" Ed shouted as the black Gate continued to crackle with energy.

"We're trying!!" Thomas shouted back. "All the generators are off but the Gate has somehow become self-sustaining!! If we can somehow divert…."

His idea was lost and two bolts of black lightning burst from the Gate, throwing everyone off their feet and to the ground. The bolts went straight up and smashed through the ceiling, leaving two gaping holes. With the energy sustaining it gone the Gate slowly faded away, its damage already done.

"Is everyone all right?" Mustang asked as he got to his feet.

"Yes sir!" Armstrong and Hawkeye answered at once.

"If you call feeling like you got hit over the head with a pipe all right I guess I am to." Hughes replied.

"We're okay to sir." Al responded, helping Ed up.

"We're lucky, that's what we are." Ed grumbled. Seeing that his group was all right Mustang turned toward the scientists.

"Dr. Thomas?"

"Except for some bumps and bruises we're fine." Thomas replied. "Damn." He said as he looked at his laboratory. There were small fires all over the place and several of the generators had exploded. Pieces of the roof were also falling from the two holes in the ceiling.

"Explanation Doctor?" Mustang prompted. After taking another look around the lab he turned to answer.

"If I had to guess I'd say the power input was too great. We put so much in it caused a backlash that resulted in this." He waved towards the demolished generators.

"So you still believe it's possible to get this new stone?" Mustang asked. Thomas nodded. "How long would it take to try again?"

"Fixing the damage would be easy enough but to check and recalibrate the equipment would take at least three days, possibly a week. Then we need to test to see if Fullmetal can…"

"Forget it!!!" Ed interrupted. "You almost blew us up once already!"

"And we know why." Thomas replied. "Now that we know the problem we can fix it and try again." Ed crossed his arms and just glared at the scientist.

"Well you can try again without me." He stated. Thomas looked over at Mustang for help. Seeing Ed was being thickheaded again he knew trying to convince him now would be useless. Instead of talking to Ed he turned to Armstrong.

"Major." Armstrong came to attention when he was addressed. "Please escort the boys back to Reesembol. We'll discuss this again in a few days."

"No we won't." Ed sneered.

"Yes we will, _Fullmetal_." Mustang replied, putting emphasis on Ed's title. Ed sneered again and left the room, Al following close behind. Mustang nodded to Armstrong and the Major followed Al. After they were gone Mustang turned towards Thomas. "You're sure you'll be able to avoid repeating what happened here today?"

"Quite sure." Thomas answered. "We've encountered overloads before but I'll admit they were nothing like this." He said, looking around at the damage again.

"What about those two black bolts?" Mustang asked.

"Based on what I saw I'd say they were the result of the new Gate rejecting the alchemy energy. When you think about what kind of damage they might have caused we should consider ourselves lucky that this is the worst of it." To prove his point a larger chunk of the ceiling fell to the ground with a loud crash.

"Very lucky." Mustang agreed.

Neither man would have considered it lucky if either of them knew just what those two bolts had contained. As damage was being assessed to the lab two groups of disoriented mutants were picking themselves up off the ground after their interdimensional trip. The bolts had dropped them in very different places, as their leaders could plainly see. Where Cyclops saw what looked like a small town in the distance Magneto saw a large castle, one with smoke coming from inside of it somewhere.


	2. Conflict and Negotiations

Chapter 2: Conflict and Negotiations

"So what do we do now sir?" Hawkeye asked Mustang as they exited the castle. For the past fifteen minutes they had been checking the full scope of damage done to the lab for the report HQ was sure to be expecting. To Mustang it didn't seem a failure with damage like this would shut down the project but if the next experiment yielded similar results they might be forced to give up.

"We'll go back, give our report, and see what they decide." Mustang answered. There wouldn't be much use for them here now, and giving their personal recommendations may help keep the project going beyond the next try. Mustang knew that with the prize they were after even the bureaucrats wouldn't object that strongly. He was about to get into the car that would take them to the train station when something caught his eye. In the woods, or more precisely above, surrounding the castle Mustang saw what looked like a dissipating cloud of white smoke.

"Something up sir?" Hughes asked as he noticed Mustang's eyes narrow.

"What caused that?" Mustang asked one of the several soldiers that would be escorting them to the station.

"That big electrical blast hit somewhere around there." The Sergeant answered.

"And why was no one informed?" Mustang asked, looking right at the Sergeant.

"Uh, well sir…" The Sergeant stammered. "When it hit there wasn't an explosion, and there hasn't been any sign of fire either." That set off all kinds of alarms in Mustang's head. An energy discharge that big doesn't do zero damage when it hits something. If anything there should have been some kind of shockwave and the trees would have been knocked over. Instead there was nothing but one small cloud of smoke that didn't even look like it came from a fire.

"Gather as many men as you can." He ordered the Sergeant. "Secure and seal off that area immediately. No one gets in or out until we can determine what happened and whether or not the area is dangerous." He then turned to Hughes. "Get Thomas, he might be able to tell us what to expect."

"I can assure you that he won't." A new voice said. Everyone turned towards the voice and saw two people exiting the woods. The one that had spoken was a man dressed in what looked like cross between a uniform and a costume. Its main color was purple that was so dark it was almost black with parts that were dark red. The cape he wore was also dark red and gave him an almost regal appearance. His face, his entire head actually, was concealed by a helmet just as dark as his uniform. More red lined the t-shaped, visor-like opening giving the man a malevolent look with no effort on his part. Despite the man's menacing and dangerous appearance his posture, the way he carried himself, and the way he spoke gave the impression of a sophisticated and still commanding presence. His companion, on the other hand, was the complete opposite.

He was slightly taller then the first man, wearing a brown vest, pants and a pair of heavy combat boots. He was heavily muscled, but still smaller then Armstrong. His long unkempt blond hair gave off the impression of a mane, which only enforced the rest of his less then human qualities. His hands ended in deadly looking claws, and his mouth contained razor sharp fangs, giving him the appearance of a wild animal. His eyes completed the image, containing a blood lust that was seen in only the worst kind of killer.

As Mustang was sizing up the new arrivals his soldiers snapped into action, focusing their guns on the intruders. These men might have been the result of the experiment, and if the second man was any indication that could mean they were looking at a new type of chimera.

"You are under arrest for trespassing on State property." Mustang told them. "Put your hands above your heads and step forward, slowly." He ordered. The second man growled in response but the first stood calmly.

"I do not believe your authority applies to us." The first man said. Mustang frowned at the noncompliance. The man ignored the colonel's reaction and continued. "We are here by accident, looking for information. Once we find out what we need to know we shall leave quietly." Mustang narrowed his eyes.

"You don't give the orders here." Mustang said. "You'll come with us and _we'll_ ask the questions." Even though his face was hidden Mustang could feel the other man glaring at him. "Sergeant." He ordered.

"Yes sir." The Sergeant replied. Motioning for two Privates to follow him he started towards the two men, rifle at the ready. The first man shook his head. It looked like humans of this world were just as underevolved as the ones of the world where he had planned on going. He didn't know why his machine had failed or why it had sent them here. What he did know was that they needed a way back, and these humans were not going to cooperate. Instead of acting he just folded his arms across his chest and nodded. Thinking that the first man was coming quietly the three soldiers concentrated on the second, and more dangerous looking, one. To their surprise he raised his hands and looked like he was going to surrender. Taking out a pair of handcuffs the Sergeant walked forward.

"Hands behind the back, now." The Sergeant ordered, not sounding very confident. The man smiled, bared his teeth actually, and the Sergeant got a very bad feeling. The bad feeling was well founded as the second man lunged, one hand grabbing his rifle and one clamping onto his neck. With little effort the man lifted the Sergeant by the neck, turned, and threw him into the woods. The Sergeant hit a large tree with a bone-crunching thud and fell into the dense foliage. Turning back quickly he used the Sergeant's rifle as a club and smashed it across the head of the first Private. Both the rifle and Private's skull shattered and the dead solider fell to the ground. Dropping the now useless rifle the second man turned towards the second Private, who almost dropped his own weapon. The second man lunged again and brought his hand down in a slashing motion. The others saw blood fly from the Private's chest and several large gashes as he spun and fell to the ground. The trauma was so great that the Private was dead only seconds after he hit the ground. The second man gave a sadistic grin to Mustang and the others looking ready to charge when a loud groan made him, and everyone else, look to where he had thrown the Sergeant. The man covered the distance quite easily and reached down into the bushes.

"Where do ya think you're going?" The second man said as he lifted the still alive Sergeant up by the front of his uniform. "Trying to sneak off before the fun's over huh?" The Sergeant could only groan again. The man snorted and threw the Sergeant several yards away, right at Mustang's feet. Mustang looked down at the wounded man. He could see multiple bone breaks in the face alone and could only guess how much internal damage there was.

"Colonel!!" Hawkeye shouted in warning before he could order the last Private to get help. Hawkeye stepped in front of Mustang and the wounded solider, aiming her pistol. The second man was walking towards them at an unhurried pace, paying no mind to the guns Hawkeye and Hughes had trained on him.

"Ooo, little girl with a gun." The man mocked as he continued forward. "That supposed to scare me, or are you going to use it? " Hawkeye narrowed her eyes and took careful aim.

"One more step and you'll find out." She warned. The man flashed his fangs again and took a deliberately large step forward.

Crack

The man grunted and grabbed his chest. Hawkeye expected him to go down but the man remained on his feet, barely moving when he was hit. He coughed once, spat out some blood and took his hand away from his chest. There was now a hole in his vest that was stained with blood but it looked like it was too little to be from a gunshot wound. He held up his hand and showed, to everyone's surprise, the bullet Hawkeye had just put into him.

"Looks like the lady has some smarts after all. Trying to make me choke on my own blood with a lung shot, that's almost sadistic. I like the way you think." The man said, complementing on her choice of target. Hawkeye was worried, just not to the point of panicking yet. She _had_ gone for a disabling, but non-lethal, lung shot but the bullet hadn't even reached its target. It looked like they were dealing with a chimera with skin thick enough to stop handgun rounds, so they weren't out of options yet. Hughes was thinking the same thing as he slipped two throwing knives into his hands.

"Then how about this?" He asked and hurled the weapons. His aim was dead on and the knives buried themselves in the man's chest, farther then Hawkeye's bullet had appeared to penetrate. The man only growled and pulled the knives out.

"You're gonna regret doing that four eyes." The man snarled as dropped one of the knives and threw the other back at its original thrower. Hughes was able to dodge but the last Private behind him was not so lucky. The knife struck the Private in the throat and blood began to spurt from it. He grabbed his neck in a desperate effort to stop the bleeding but soon the entire front of his uniform was stained red and he fell to his knees, his eyes loosing the life in them as he fell to the ground.

"Bastard!!" Hughes shouted at the second man.

"Oops." The second man said with an arrogant smirk. Another knife came sailing his way, one that went straight into his knee and out the back of it. The man snarled in pain again and almost fell. Hughes smiled, confident that he put the bastard in his place and the situation was now under control. That smile vanished and the situation quickly spiraled back out of control as the man grabbed the knife and violently yanked it out. He glared at Hughes and growled again. Seeing that his knives weren't getting him anywhere Hughes decided to go for broke and hastily took aim with his gun. He emptied his entire clip but the only thing that did was create more red holes in the man's vest. "Now you're starting to piss me off!" He snarled.

"Uh...sorry?" Hughes offered, trying to come up with a plan C. The man narrowed his eyes and looked ready to attack.

"I'll handle this Hughes." Mustang said as he stepped forward, slipping a glove onto his right hand. He tried to sound as bored as possible so the man would focus on him and not on what Hawkeye was doing. If the man saw he was sure to charge and that would negate what she was trying.

"And what are you going to do mister fancy pants?" The man snarled. "You don't even have a weapon." Mustang arched an eyebrow at the comment. The transmutation circle on his glove had been visible and he was sure the man had seen it. This guy truly seemed to have no idea of who or what he was dealing with. That didn't make any sense. Even chimeras, the ones that could think, and homunculus knew about alchemists. Mustang was going to have to have a serious talk with Thomas later about what his experiment might have created. Right now he had a situation to deal with and raised his hand.

"I don't need one." Mustang stated, and snapped his fingers. The gloves sparked and the man burst into flames. At first he reacted like normal people would when set on fire, yelling in pain and trying to put the flames out. To Mustang's surprise the man stayed on his feet, slowly calmed down and turned to face him again. The look on his face could only be described as mad. Not just really pissed off mad but full-blown lunacy mad. The fact that he was still on fire and now seemed to be ignoring it did wonders for reinforcing that image. The man then did something that was the last thing Mustang would have expected. He sprinted right towards him, adding to the flames that were still covering his body.

"I'M GONNA RIP YOUR GUTS OUT AND SHOW THEM TO YOU YOU SON OF A BITCH!!!" He screamed as he charged. Mustang stayed calm, a minor miracle considering he was now being charged by a human fireball, and concentrated. The transmutation circle on his glove began to glow as he built up the oxygen concentration at a point that would intercept the man's charge. He snapped his fingers again and this time a full-blown explosion engulfed the man, who was lifted off his feet and flung into one of the trees that made up the forest boundary. He slumped to the ground but only stayed there for a second, quickly getting back to his feet. Before he could bring himself back to his full height the sound of a rifle shot rang out and the man jerked backwards.

Chancing a glance back Mustang saw that Hawkeye had succeeded in sneaking over to the dead Private and picking up his rifle. She continued aiming and fired a second shot. Mustang turned to see the man had begun to lurch forward and was struck by the second bullet but still remained on his feet. The man growled at Mustang's group and again tried to move forward. Two more bullets to the chest stopped him in his tracks and gave Hawkeye the opportunity she needed. Sighting the rifle on one precise area she squeezed the trigger. This time when the bullet struck him the man's reaction was not anger but shock. His hands went to his throat as he fell back into the tree and slumped back down to the ground. His hands fell to his sides and this time he didn't get back up, he wasn't even moving.

"Well done Lieutenant." Mustang said.

"Very well done indeed." The first man agreed, his words bringing Hawkeye's rifle and Hughes' reloaded pistol pointed back at him. In the course of the fight they had almost completely forgotten about him. It wasn't really that hard to do, he had just stood there silently and made no effort to help either side. "It appears I've misjudged you…Colonel was it? I believe we have many things to discuss." Without waiting for Mustang to answer he looked back to the woods and then to the dead man. As Mustang and the others watched the flames from the man's burning body, and the tree he had set on fire, literally jumped into the air and gathered into one large fireball. It hovered in midair for a second before snuffing itself out. Despite this new turn of events Mustang remained focused on the first man.

"We do have many things to discuss." The Colonel agreed. "But while you're in our custody. I'm sure what you've just seen has convinced you to not to resist." The man shook his head, looking disappointed at Mustang's statement. "You've killed three men under my command so don't expect me to be lenient if you try something." He heard gasps from Hawkeye and Hughes and the sound of pistol cocking from right behind him. Looking back he saw the nearly dead Sergeant standing like his injures didn't exist and staring down the barrel of his gun.

"Four actually." The Sergeant said in a distinctly female voice. As Mustang and the others watched the 'Sergeant's' body began to shift and change, rearranging its shapes and features. Seconds later the soldier was gone and in his place was a woman with long red hair that would easily be considered beautiful by almost anyone's standards. Many would probably still think that in spite of the fact that her skin was dark blue and her eyes were not only yellow but had no visible pupils. Having gotten over their shock of the woman's appearance Hawkeye and Hughes trained their weapons on her.

"Very clever ploy." Mustang admitted. "But even if she kills me she'll be shot and then you'll be alone. I doubt you'll risk losing another one of your," He searched to find the right word. "friends in a bluff that isn't going to work." The woman gave Mustang a knowing smirk.

"Another?" The man asked with a hidden certainty. Mustang turned back to ask the man what he meant and saw him looking at the second man Hawkeye had just gunned down. He was convulsing, not really something unexpected in situations like this, but he wasn't just randomly twitching. It looked like he was struggling to move!! Like a switch had been flipped his hands clenched into fists and he looked up at Mustang's group with bloodshot, rage driven eyes. They watched in stunned silence as the man, still smoking and growling like an animal, got to his feet.

"I'm gonna.." The man started.

"You will do nothing Sabertooth." The first man interrupted. Sabertooth glared at the man and growled even louder. The man glared back and after several seconds Sabertooth backed down like a dog that had just disobeyed its master, but one that would still snap its leash in a heartbeat. "You'll have to forgive his temper. It's not often someone is intelligent enough to aim for his spinal cord and is actually able to incapacitate him." He turned back to face the Colonel and noticed that Hawkeye had her rifle pointed in his direction with an uncomprehending look on her face. It wasn't that hard for anyone to figure out. Her last shot had indeed been aimed at Sabertooth's spinal cord, which she saw it did sever, and that should have killed him.

"Then I guess the only thing to do is aim for his head." Mustang said, giving an almost unnoticeable side-glance to Hawkeye. She put the rife to her shoulder and took aim at Sabertooth. The man sighed and raised one of his hands. Hawkeye's rifle suddenly developed a mind of its own as it pulled itself from her hands and put the barrel right between her eyes. The man turned to Hughes and motioned towards him with the same hand. Hughes' gun followed the example set by Hawkeye's rifle and turned on its owner. As Hughes watched, almost mesmerized by the sight of his own gun floating in midair and aimed at him, his hidden throwing knives ripped up and out through his uniform, looking like they had just burst from his skin. Unlike the gun his knives decided to give their owner a break and buried themselves in the ground. Not just with blades sticking partially in but driving themselves completely under the surface.

"Hey…!!" He shouted, partly because he had been completely disarmed so easily, partly because the man could have slashed him to ribbons with that little trick. His complaint was cut short as his gun spun slightly and fired. Hughes closed his eyes and froze in place, waiting for the pain and blood but nothing happened. Opening his eyes slightly he saw that the gun was still pointed downward and when he followed the path of the barrel he saw a bullet hole no more then a quarter inch from his foot. He slowly looked up and in response the gun snapped back into the perfect position to blow his head off. Hughes took the hint and shut his mouth. Mustang watched these new events unfold then turned back to the first man.

"You're an alchemist?" He asked, trying to make it sound like a statement. It wasn't any kind of alchemy he had ever seen before but not even a chimera or homunculus had this kind of ability.

"Is that what they call you here?" The man asked. "I suppose it is fitting in a way, and a much better alternative then what we are used to." The man said, motioning towards Sabertooth. "It is also good to see someone such as yourself has been given the power and respect that is so often denied to people with similar talents."

"Alchemists hold many high ranks in the military. They are given what they have earned, and I'm no different." Mustang replied. What he had just said wasn't a secret yet this man acted as if he didn't know. It was like he expected alchemists in the military to be a rarity, and officers almost nonexistent.

"That is very encouraging to hear." The man replied. "As I said before we have many things to discuss. I believe we can help each other a great deal Colonel, and it would be foolish of you not to listen."

"You kill four of my men and expect us to trust you?" Mustang countered.

"An unfortunate misunderstanding." The man said simply. Mustang frowned at the man's easy dismissal of the men that had been slaughtered. "It was you who confronted us after all."

"You were intruding on restricted State property. We used force because you saw fit to ignore the law, not through any fault of ours." Mustang responded.

"On the contrary Colonel. It is precisely your fault that we were trespassing. If you are in charge of whatever is in there then you have no one to blame but yourselves for what has happened." The man countered, pointing at the castle. Magneto wasn't one who put much stock in cosmic flukes. If they had been dragged to a world that he hadn't come across in his search then something must have acted to bring them here. When they had first recovered from the transition Magneto had seen the castle and the smoke rising from it with two holes blown in the roof. He knew it was no coincidence that one of the holes seemed to be angled in the direction of the clearing where they landed. The only thing he couldn't be sure of was whether whoever had sent the energy that brought them here was an accident or if somebody had planed it.

For Mustang the man's statement confirmed his suspicions. The new Gate had brought them here, and that meant they weren't of this world. The military had, simply put, screwed up big time. They had brought an unknown and apparently hostile force into their domain, a force lead by someone who had powers that no one had ever seen before. On the other side of the coin he could see the truth in the man's statement that they had been acting out of self-defense, despite the viciousness of their actions. The man was willing to talk and to Mustang that was a better option then letting everyone, including himself, be killed for nothing. If nothing else he could find out more about this group and determine their intentions.

"Very well. If you're willing to act in a civilized manner the least we can do is offer the same. If you're willing to follow us back to the castle we will hear you out." Mustang told the man. He looked around at the weapons currently held on himself, Hawkeye, and Hughes. "However I hardly think negotiations at gunpoint would be considered civilized."

"Quite right Colonel." The man agreed and closed his hand into a fist. The two hovering guns, as well as the one held by the blue woman, crushed themselves into balls like they were made of paper and dropped to the ground. "Rejoin the others and wait for my return." He told Sabertooth who, after glaring at Mustang's group and growling one last time, turned and walked into the woods.

"Others?" Mustang questioned. He had assumed that these three were the only ones that had come through, then he remembered the second black energy bolt.

"Others did come through with us." The man confirmed. "If telling you about them will serve my purpose I will, and not before. As a military man you will no doubt know it is never wise to reveal every option you have at once." The man was smart, Mustang had to admit that much. He had just more or less said that even though he was allowing them to take him somewhere at the same time he would be prepared if things did not go his way. He didn't reveal how many more like him there were, or what their abilities might be. It could be a lie but this man didn't look like he would bluff about something like this. He was determined to maintain a measure of control no matter the situation, and that made him even more dangerous.

"No it isn't." He finally answered. "But if I'm going to negotiate with anyone I at least want to know their names."

"I am Magneto." The man replied. "The woman next to you is Mystique." Mustang gave a slight glance back at Mystique in acknowledgment. "She will accompany me to witness our talk firsthand." Mustang nodded an affirmative and began giving orders.

"Hughes, get some help and take care of the bodies. Hawkeye, you'll be my witness to the negotiations."

"Hawkeye is it?" The man asked with a touch of amusement in his voice. "An interesting coincidence, wouldn't you agree my dear?" He asked, turning towards Mystique.

"Very interesting." Mystique agreed. "At least this one is a lot easier on the eyes." She commented. The three State soldiers exchanged confused looks, having no idea what they were talking about. Deciding that it didn't matter Mustang turned around and started walking towards the castle, Hawkeye falling in next to him. Magneto and Mystique followed only half a step behind, showing that they would not be regarded as anything but equals. As they approached the front gate of the castle they were met by several more soldiers with weapons at the ready.

"Sir." They all said and saluted Mustang. The squad leader stepped forward. "We heard gunfire and an explosion but we were ordered to stay and guard the lab in case we were being attacked. Is everything under control sir?"

"It is now." Mustang replied. "But there have been casualties. Lt. Colonel Hughes is going to need help dealing with them."

"Yes sir." The squad leader said as he got a good a good look at the people with the Colonel. "If I may ask sir. Who are they?"

"Classified." Mustang answered, and left it at that. "Have someone find Dr. Thomas and bring him to the conference room immediately." The squad commander saluted and rushed to carry out his orders.

The conference room was a large, but isolated, room deep within the castle, originally a library that still had its many books lining the walls. It had been converted to a meeting area once the lab was built because it was the most secure and soundproof room in the entire castle. Perfect for discussing top-secret developments, or in this case talking _with_ top-secret developments, of the project. Mustang sat down at a round table in the center of the room with Hawkeye standing next to him. Magneto sat down opposite of Mustang while Mystique stood next to him.

"I suppose explanations are the first order of business." Mustang said. "During an experiment to acquire an… item of interest for us we apparently ended up brining you here instead of what we intended to." He wasn't about to go into details about such a secret project with someone not cleared to know, not yet. To his surprise Magneto didn't seem angry about such sparse information.

"Did part of your experiment in acquiring this item involve using some sort of portal to get to it?" He asked. Mustang raised an eyebrow at Magneto's inquiry. It was exactly what they had done but how could he have been able to guess that?

"You sound like you already know the answer to that." Mustang replied.

"Possibly." Magneto responded. "I was conducting an experiment of my own involving a portal to let us travel to someplace that would be unreachable otherwise. I'm not an expert in this type of science but I am willing to guess that the fact that we were conducting similar experiments had a great deal to do with why we are here." Mustang considered that for a moment when the door to the room opened and Thomas walked in.

"I hope this is important Colonel." He said, not noticing Magneto or Mystique. "We've only barely begun repairing the equipment and haven't even started to document the results of the accident."

"We have the results right here doctor." Mustang said, nodding towards his two guests. Thomas gave Mustang a confused expression, looked where the Colonel was looking, and nearly jumped out of his skin.

"But how… what… Who are they?" He finally managed to ask.

"We, doctor, are the results of your accident." Magneto stated in a tone that told Thomas never to refer to them as that again.

"That's not possible." Thomas said quickly. "We weren't trying to bring over anything that was alive.."

"But we did." Mustang interrupted. "What we need to know is how that happened." He turned back to Magneto. "Please continue."

"While we were waiting for our own portal to stabilize enough to go through there was an unknown power surge that overloaded most of the equipment we used. We were struck by a dark energy bolt and when we were able to see again we found ourselves inside of a forest."

"When you ran into us." Mustang finished. He turned back to Thomas. "Any guesses doctor?" Thomas seemed dumbfounded at the moment. The fact that they had brought someone alive through the new Gate, it was astounding. And the fact that these people had created a Gate of their own was even more fantastic. Things began to click into place and a hypothesis started to form.

"You created your own Gate, so you could transport yourselves from one place to another?" He asked. Magneto nodded in response. "Where you're from, is there a yellow stone that can reshape matter and energy?" Magneto thought for several seconds before answering.

"I have only heard rumors about such a stone existing." Only one thing he knew of could have matched that description and he wasn't about to tell these people what it was.

"That's it!" Thomas almost shouted. "When we tried to open our Gate our destination was in the same relative area as their Gate." When he saw the uncomprehending looks on the faces in front of him he elaborated. "The connection of the Gate opening and exit is like electricity, it travels along the path of least resistance. Since there was already an open Gate where they came from there was already a weak point in the space time boundaries. Our Gate connected to that weak point but since that point in space-time was already being manipulated there must have been some kind of cosmic feedback…"

"That resulted in our transition." Magneto finished.

"Exactly." Thomas confirmed. He actually laughed. "Imagine the odds of two separate labs performing actions so similar and taking place at exactly the same time. It must be astronomical."

"The odds are zero doctor." Mustang said. "Your lab was the only one conducting these tests. Even if we didn't know about others I'm sure they would have identified themselves as part of the State by now. That means that their lab wasn't under our control, and that's an impossibility. No one else has the knowledge or technology that we do."

"That is where you are wrong." Magneto broke in. "What you are saying is, in a sense, correct. On this world no one has either the knowledge or technology to do what you have done."

"Y…You're aliens?!" Thomas blurted. Magneto repressed a sigh and Mustang sent Thomas a glare that told him to shut up before he really embarrassed himself and the State. Unfortunately the scientist didn't notice and looked at Mystique. "That would explain why you're blue and have yellow eyes." Magneto turned to Mustang and cocked his head slightly, as if silently asking '_This_ is the smartest you have to offer?' Mustang groaned and covered his eyes. Mystique, meanwhile, was giving Thomas a glare that would burn through lead.

"Call me anything like that again," She warned. "And you're losing a body part. I'll decide which later." Thomas paled slightly at the threat and backed down.

"It appears your scientist has trouble thinking broadly." Magneto commented.

"Apparently." Mustang said as he took his hand off his face. "But I'm sure he's more then willing to listen to your explanation." He said, looking at Thomas and daring him to say otherwise. Thomas kept quiet and everyone's attention went back to Magneto.

"To answer the ill asked question," Magneto said, glaring at Thomas. "We are from the planet Earth. It is just not _this_ Earth we are from."

"And how is that possible?" Mustang asked. It sounded like the stuff of fantasy but it was the only thing to go on right now.

"The simplest way to explain it would be to use time as an example." Magneto continued. "Have there been situations, in combat for example, where you could have acted in a different manner but chose not to? Later have you thought that if you had taken that second option things might have turned out differently, for the better?"

"I don't know of any solider that doesn't have thoughts like that." Mustang replied.

"There in lies the answer. Would you believe me if I told you that there are alternate realities where you have taken that second option, leading to a whole new set of circumstances and outcomes?" Mustang looked at him doubtfully. "I didn't see any myself but it is almost a guarantee that they exist. There are at least two documented alternate realities of my own world due to shifts in time."

"So you and your men are time travelers?" Mustang asked. Right now it seemed like a more logical explanation.

"I do not know what year we are in now but I can assure you that we have not traveled within the boundaries of our own world's timeline. There was no such military as your own, and mutants were never accepted as they are here."

"Mutants?" Mustang asked.

"You call them alchemists." Magneto answered. He held out an open hand and a book with metal binding lifted off its space on the shelf and floated in midair. The book then traveled slowly across the room and into Magneto's hand. "On my own world people with such powers are hated and persecuted."

"Even by our standards your powers are a bit strange." Mustang noted. "But new types of alchemy are discovered every now and then." He went over Magneto's little demonstration in his head one more time before asking his next question. "Where is your transmutation circle and when did you activate it?" All the State alchemists had unique ways of activating their transmutation circles but Magneto had only raised his hand and his alchemy came into play. It made Mustang wonder if his powers were somehow fake.

"Transmutation circle?" Magneto asked. Now Mustang frowned.

"The symbol that allows you activate and control your powers." Mustang prompted. Even though Magneto's face was hidden by his helmet Mustang knew that he was getting a questioning look from the man.

"I need no such symbol to use my mutant powers, and I know of no mutants that do." Mustang's frown deepened. "You truly believe you need a mere symbol to use your powers?"

"It's not a matter of belief, it's a fact." Mustang said as he took out his glove and showed the two mutants the transmutation circle. "Any type of science won't work without the proper components, and alchemy is no different." He put his glove on and snapped his fingers. A small burst of flame erupted several inches above the center of the table.

"You were not born with your powers?" Magneto asked, sounding like he wouldn't accept the answer.

"No, I learned them. Just like every other alchemist does." Mustang answered. Magneto frowned and though he couldn't see it Mustang knew that he had gotten a very negative reaction. "I guess now we know the difference between alchemists and mutants." Like Magneto at first Mustang believed that alchemists and mutants were the same, only named differently. Now the situation may have changed for the worst.

"To you alchemy is a science, well understood and accepted?" Magneto asked.

"If you don't believe me you're welcome to read that book." Mustang said. Magneto looked at the book he was holding and read the title. _BASIC ALCHEMY_

"And for all appearances I am an alchemist as well? One with a very different type than what is commonly used, correct?"

"Something like that wouldn't be unheard of. Myself and Major Armstrong are prime examples of specialized alchemy." Mustang was wondering where all these questions were leading. Magneto looked down at the book again then back up to Mustang.

"The reason I had the portal built was to find a new world to take my mutant brothers to. The humans on our world will never accept mutant-kind and have done their best to eradicate us. I have tried to fight back but there are those among us that insist on protecting the very species that wants them dead. I had grown tired of spilling mutant blood and decided it would be best to leave that world and find one where we could establish our own rule. I found one where the humans were in the middle of their forth world war, on the brink of extinction. I intended to go there with a small group and establish a mutant state, destroying any human that would dare oppose us."

"And now you plan to do the same to us?" Mustang asked, convinced he was hearing a declaration of war.

"Make no mistake Colonel. I still consider humans an inferior species, one that I would not hesitate to wipe out should I feel the need to. However you have shown me something I would never thought possible. Your people's acceptance of alchemists proves that your species is capable of evolving beyond the Neanderthal way of thinking that governs most humans' minds. Because your government has shown it is able to think rationally I am going to give diplomacy a chance." He waited for Mustang to respond.

"I'm listening." Mustang answered. Magneto nodded and stood.

"I'm willing to make a deal with your people." He said as he walked towards Mustang and Hawkeye. "I have no doubt that my own people are searching for and will eventually find us. Until that time I will put the services of my men and myself at your disposal. In return I ask that my mutant brethren and I be allowed to establish our own homeland on this world. One that is outside the boundaries of your own country of course." Mustang considered it for a moment.

"You'll understand my concern about having an entire nation of people with powers such as yours existing alongside ours." He said.

"If we are left alone we shall leave you alone." Magneto assured him.

"And you'll agree to work alongside the State until your world reestablishes contact with you?" Mustang asked.

"My only condition is that we be treated as equals. If the State wishes to use my men for any reason they must first receive approval from me. If I choose to deny their request that will be the end of the matter, no questions asked." Mustang sat back in his chair and was in deep thought for several minutes. There was no way to be certain that Magneto could be completely trusted, but it also made no sense for him to go through such an elaborate ruse. Mutants would make very powerful allies and the military part of Mustang told him not to pass up such an opportunity. Magneto seemed to have a tight rein on his subordinates, if he could control someone like Sabertooth it proved his ability to lead and showed the respect he commanded. If he did become a threat to the State Mustang was sure that the resulting war would border on genocide. On the other hand Magneto had proven himself to be a rational thinker and instead of demanding, which he easily could have done, he had offered a trade for what he wanted. He was either sincere in his offer, or he was the best liar Mustang had ever encountered. Coming to a conclusion Mustang stood up and faced the mutant leader.

"I'll have to run this by my superiors but I think I can safely say we have a deal." He held out his right hand. Magneto reached out and shook Mustang's hand.

"You have made a very wise decision Colonel."

Famous last words


	3. Bar Fights and Weird Meetings

Chapter 3: Bar fights and Weird Meetings

It took him only five minutes to find trouble. Then again, that seemed to be what Wolverine excelled at. The place he had agreed to scout to dig up some answers seemed like just your average backwater town, and it was. But like every other city and town it had its rough spots, and that's where he went first. If there was one thing he had learned it was that places like this were the best place to get information. So far the only thing he knew for sure was what he read on the sign just outside of town: Reesembol 1/2 mile. That wasn't much help so he needed to find out as much as he could, without revealing just where he came from. It didn't take him long to see where the worse part of the city was so he headed that way. Five minutes later…

"Nice outfit you got there pal. Bet that must have cost ya a small fortune." Wolverine knew that there were people hiding in those alleys, and had been hoping that they would be smart enough to just ignore him. Looked like his X-Men uniform would be considered weird even by their standards. He had seen a couple of people while he was sneaking in and from what he had seen on how these people dressed he thought there was a good chance his black uniform might go unnoticed. So much for that.

"If you can afford threads like that, then maybe you'll be sympathetic to a couple of guys down on their luck."

(Muggers.) Wolverine thought to himself. (Dumb ones to by the sound of it.) As the two stepped out of the alleys they had hidden themselves in he managed to get a good look at them. One was slightly taller then he was, baldheaded and wearing a black duster like coat with frayed looking jeans. The second one was taller then the first, and powerfully built. It was a basic setup. (Dumb muscle, and even dumber brains.) He thought looking from one to the other. He could take both of them easy, and since right now he needed to find a way to blend in…

"So what do ya say Mac? Think you can spare us a couple of bucks?" Brains asked. For your average Joe walking the street this might seem intimidating. To Wolverine, he couldn't help but smile. When that happened people became nervous, very _**very **_nervous, and the muggers were no exception. They almost backed down right there but since they thought they had the advantage of numbers they didn't.

"I'll make you a deal." Wolverine answered gruffly. "If you manage to knock me down with one punch, I'll give you all the money I have." He said, pointing at Brains. "I won't even block or dodge."

"Let me do it." Muscle said, cracking his knuckles. "I'll knock him into next week." Wolverine snorted at the comment.

"If you think you're too weak to do it you can let him." He told Brains, who turned red at the insult. "If not give me your best shot." He taunted, pointing at his chin. Brains cracked his own knuckles but even someone without Wolverine's heightened senses would have been able to see brass knuckles being slipped on and snapped into place. Wolverine remained still and waited. Brains swung and his brass enhanced knuckles collided with Wolverine's adamantium reinforced jaw. The result was a forgone conclusion. The brass knuckles shattered, along with a good portion of Brains' hand, and Wolverine was unmoved. He gave the wounded mugger two seconds to look at his mangled hand and scream before grabbing him by the front of his shirt and head-butting him. Brains was unconscious instantly and Wolverine dropped him to the ground.

"What did you do!?!" Muscle proved just how dumb he was by rushing headlong at Wolverine, swinging. The mutant just tilted his head to one side and let the punch pass right by him. The uncomprehending look Muscle had at the move was really quite hilarious, for the half second it was there before Wolverine buried his fist in the dummy's face. He felt his opponent's nose break and watched as he fell onto his back, unconscious.

"Not even a decent warm up." Wolverine growled to himself as he went to work. A few minutes later he was walking down the street in his newly acquired duster and jeans, while Brains and Muscle were lying in the alley, not about to move anytime soon.

Now able to walk around freely Wolverine set about exploring the town in more detail. Sure he could have gone to a town hall or a library to find out about this world he and the other X-Men had found themselves in, but he would look too out of place there. He was good at blending in, that's the reason he'd been sent in to explore this place, but if he spent all of his time just looking up stuff even a kid here would know he was bound to seem suspicious. So he went to his someplace he would feel right at home, a bar.

The sign said that it was Mike's Bar, no fancy names or anything. It wasn't what most people would consider a dive but it did look like the kind of place where people hung out. To Wolverine it was the perfect place to start. He opened the door to a loud, slightly smoky room that got real quiet when they heard the door. Knowing the routine Wolverine scanned the room, sizing up everyone while they were doing the same to him. His face told the group he wasn't one to be messed with and the way he carried himself showed that he knew how to make trouble if he had to. Slowly the conversations started back up, a sign he had been accepted, so he walked over to the bar.

"Get you something?" The bartender asked.

"Strongest stuff you've got." Wolverine replied gruffly. The bartender poured him what smelled like whisky into a large glass and was about to put the bottle back when Wolverine grabbed it. "Leave the bottle." He ordered, putting a couple bills of paper money on the bar. The bartender nodded and took the money. The muggers had been doing quite well until they ran into Wolverine and he was more then willing to relieve them of the money they had stolen. Now sure he was going to be left alone Wolverine set to work gathering information. For the next hour or so he drank but kept his mouth shut and his ears open, eavesdropping in on any conversations that sounded like they would be helpful. Slowly he began to get a picture on how this world, the country they were in at least, worked.

Military state, not quite a dictatorship, but one where the army ran most things. The military was none too popular either, big surprise there. In addition to conventional forces the military also enlisted the help of 'alchemists' to increase their grip on power. At first Wolverine thought it was just a branch of the army with a funny name but as he heard more of what these alchemists could do things began to make sense. It looked like there were mutants on this world after all, and because they were so far behind the world where Wolverine came from mutant powers were attributed to alchemy. This was actually a good sign. If mutants were more or less accepted like normal people there was a chance the X-Men would receive help in getting home. Wolverine poured himself another glass of booze and was going to continue his surveillance when trouble decided to find him again.

"You got a reason for being here?" He turned around and saw he had been asked by a large man who looked like a regular at this place.

"Just passing through." Wolverine answered and turned back around, trying not to draw attention to himself. The regular wasn't going to let it drop so easily.

"Passing through huh? Nobody just passes through this town anymore, not unless they're looking for something."

"Well I'm not." Wolverine growled, telling the man to back off. The drunk wasn't listening.

"You just show up and expect us to believe that? You haven't said or done anything since you got here. I'll bet you're military." He accused rather loudly. Conversation stopped and now all attention was on Wolverine. "A spy sent to recruit Ed and Al for one of their bloodbaths."

"I got out of the military a long time ago bub." Wolverine snarled. "And I couldn't care less about Ed or Al." Those names he had heard more then a few times in the conversations, the famous Elric brothers. Two very strong mutants, possibly the most powerful in the world. The military had very high interests in them and their activities and by saying that he didn't care Wolverine was hoping to convince them that he had nothing to do with the army. Unfortunately the drunk took it in the opposite direction.

"That's a pretty strong denial for someone who just doesn't care." Wolverine just glared at the man. It looked like this was one of those rare instances where being drunk actually improved your perception. This guy didn't look like he could figure it out otherwise. "I was right. You are a dog of the military, and a stupid one at that. Did you think you could fool us with that 'just passing through' lie. You're no different then the other dogs. Your masters tell you what to do then you go without any question."

"I go, where I wanna go." In a very low and dangerous voice, looking the drunk in the eye and daring him to try something. For a second it looked like it was going to work as the drunk actually stepped back. It didn't last long as the liquor in his system and the fact that most of the others were getting up to help him enabled the man to get his courage back.

"Maybe you should go now, and not come back." The drunk threatened. Wolverine quickly assessed the situation. Things had gone to hell pretty quickly. He was now facing down almost three dozen people who looked ready pound the hell out of him. He couldn't see any bulges in their clothes and didn't smell gun oil so the worst he would have to deal with would be a knife or broken bottle. Before he came here Cyclops had told him to keep a low profile and not engage the locals.

(Screw him.) He thought to himself. (I don't run. Things are going to get ugly one way or another so I might as well have some fun with it.) He grabbed his glass, downed the whisky in one gulp and slammed the glass onto the bar. Turning back towards the crowd he popped his neck and shoulders, fixing them with an animal like glare. That scared some of the crowd, what scared them even more is when he smiled.

"Show me what you've got. Rookies." He growled, challenging anyone to attack him.

Pinako Rockbell wasn't expecting any visitors today. No customers needed automail adjustments and the Elric brothers were off participating in some kind of lunatic science experiment being conducted by the military. She didn't know exactly what it was but knowing how the government worked she really didn't want to either. When the knock on her door came she was glad for something to distract her from worrying about the boys. Opening the door she was greeted with the sight of a policeman.

"Sorry to disturb you Miss Rockbell, but I'm afraid there's been another incident at Mike's." The policeman explained.

"Another fight." Pinako sighed. Several large bar brawls had occurred recently and the wounded had been brought to her for treatment. There were usually no serious injuries but it was better to be safe then sorry. "So how many do you have this time?"

"None actually." The policeman answered. "The fight is still going on and there were too many for us to bring here. Last count before I left was twelve."

"Twelve?" Pinako asked. "They never seem to learn. Winry!" She called upstairs. "Get my medical bag. Those idiots in town decided to hurt themselves again."

"Not again!" Winry called back, sounding just as annoyed as her grandmother. Stuff like this kept on calling her away from her work and for a mechanic of her caliber that was one of the worst things you could do. "I'll be right down." Grumbling to herself she shoved her wrench into one of her pockets and went to go get Pinako's things.

They heard the commotion before they got in site of the bar. A large crowd had gathered around the building but kept their distance from it, like some sort of invisible barrier was holding them back. Off to one side the wounded were lying on the ground, all with varying degrees of injuries. Some were moaning, but most were silent, a sure sign they were unconscious. Doing a quick count Pinako saw that there had been some additions since the policeman had come to get here.

"Eight more, and in just five minutes." She remarked, looking at her watch. "Just how many are involved in this free for all anyway?" She asked. If she had a good idea how many were on each side she would be able to tell when the fight would be winding down.

"From what we've managed to get from the ones who could still talk just one." The policeman answered. From inside the bar there were several loud crashes and someone staggered out of the building, his scalp bleeding and one eye swollen shut. Checking his own watch the policeman continued. "About fifteen minutes ago most of the people inside decided to gang up on some new guy. Since then they've limped and been dragged out so we've just been collecting them."

"So why don't you go in and stop him?" Pinako asked. "Isn't what police are for, keeping the peace?"

"Some of us have families we want to go home to." The cop deadpanned. "So far he hasn't killed anybody and we're not going to antagonize him." Pinako nodded in agreement. Sometimes the best thing to do was let immaturity like this run its course. That decided they just watched as more people filed out of the bar, each looking worse then the last. The fact only a few policemen and the Rockbells were near the bar showed that no one was willing to get involved in this, almost nobody at any rate. With a combination of curiosity and wanting to know just who had interrupted her, what Pinako would call the folly of youth, Winry crept up to one of the windows to look inside the bar. The cop was about to warn her back but Pinako waved him off.

"She can take care of herself. Just make sure she doesn't try to go inside." She knew Winry would be careful and just looking inside was probably safer then going in after everything seemed to quiet down.

The bar was, in a word, totaled. As Winry looked around she saw that every table and chair had been overturned and most were broken. More people were lying on the floor, from what she could see there were about ten. There were six still standing, five of them trying to surround someone she had never seen before. Taller then Ed but still kind of short the stranger was wearing a long black coat and a scowl that made Winry almost shudder. One thug in front of the stranger threw a punch but the stranger grabbed his wrist, twisted, and punched the thug in the jaw. He crumpled to the ground and didn't get up. As the first thug fell one of the two behind the stranger leapt forward and tried to put him in a headlock. The stranger reacted instantly; driving his elbow back into the thug's stomach and making his eyes look like they were about to pop out of their sockets. When the thug's grip slackened the stranger grabbed his arm and flipped him over his shoulder, making sure to twist the arm as he hit the floor. There was a loud pop and the thug grabbed his own shoulder, screaming. Seeing how well his buddy had done the second thug behind the stranger had picked up one of the still intact chairs and hit the stranger in the back as hard as he could. The chair shattered but the only thing the stranger did was straiten up and turn around, frowning. The thug stupidly looked at the two chair legs he still had then back up at the stranger. He was about to say something but the stranger grabbed him by the front of his shirt with both hands and actually threw him over the bar, where he landed with a loud crash. Winry tried to stifle the gasp but it looked like she wasn't successful as the stranger turned and looked right at her.

Wolverine knew he would attract an audience and his hearing told him the noise came from outside but his instincts made him turn around anyway. He saw some kid looking in the window and in the time it took him to decide there was no threat the two idiots who he was facing away from had already grabbed him.

Winry was afraid for a surprisingly brief period of time. It was so brief that she didn't realize she was frightened, just that she had distracted the stranger and the two men behind him were closing in. She was about to shout a warning but the other two had grabbed the stranger and lifted him up. Before the stranger had a chance to struggle the two men hurled him right at the window Winry was at. Winry turned away and screamed when she heard the glass shatter, but thankfully none of the shards hit her. She heard a thump and turned to see the stranger had landed on his back, right next to her. He glanced over at her with an annoyed look and before Winry could stammer an explanation he spoke.

"You okay?" The tone and gruffness he asked that question with made Winry believe she had to answer it now, or else.

"Y,Y, Yes." She finally managed to say.

"Good." Was all that the stranger said. He then rolled onto his stomach and leaped back through the window like some sort of predatory animal. Even with as fast as things were moving Winry was able to catch something very strange. She noticed that the stranger had a big shard of glass buried deep in his back and he didn't seem to notice it. She didn't have long to think about that, or just how exactly she noticed it out of everything else, when more noise erupted from within the building. There were cries of pain, curses, but mostly there was the sound of punches, heavy punches, being landed. Winry was about to look back inside when something slammed into the bar door and knocked it clear off its hinges. That something turned out to be one of the thugs that had thrown the stranger out of the window. There were several seconds of uneasy silence before they heard footsteps approaching the bar entrance. The stranger stood in the doorway, calmly lighting a large cigar that had somehow survived all the chaos. After taking a long drag he blew out the smoke and looked at the gathered crowd.

"Anyone else?" He asked with a snarl. Except for the police and Pinako everyone moved back slightly. "Didn't think so." He looked at the cop who had summoned the Rockbells. "You in charge?"

"I am." The cop replied, acting calmer then one would expect. "I suppose you have an explanation on how this got started."

"I was minding my own business having a drink and then this asshole," He pointed to the last thug on top of the door, who was slowly regaining his senses. "…and his buddies decide to jump me."

"But…he's…" The drunk started to say but shut up when he saw the glare Wolverine was giving him.

"He's what?" The policeman prompted. The drunk swallowed loudly before answering.

"N, N, Nothing." He finally stammered.

"I guess that settles that." The policeman said before turning back to Wolverine. "Do you wish to press charges against any of these men?" Wolverine shook his head.

"I think they learned their lesson." He stated. To drive home the point from inside the bar someone started shrieking in pain. Looking over his shoulder to see who it was Wolverine snorted then turned back to the cop. "Just ignore that. I only dislocated his shoulder, the wuss. As for you…" He said, pointing at the drunk who had started it all. "you do something like this to me again, I'm not going to be so nice next time. Got it?" The drunk went pale and started sweating. Wolverine's nose also told him that the man hadn't maintained control of his bladder as well as he would have liked to.

"G..G..Got it." He answered.

"Good. Now SCRAM!" He shouted, making the drunk turn and run as fast as he could.

"I suppose we should be thanking you." The cop said as they watched the drunk try for a land speed record. "He's been giving us grief for a while now. Starting fights, destroying property. I don't think he's going to be that eager to find trouble anymore."

"No problem." Wolverine answered. The cop nodded and walked into the bar, not bothering to ask him anything else. With the cop's back 'accidentally' turned Wolverine was about to leave himself when, much to his surprise, someone started talking to him.

"Uh… Sir?" A weak voice said. Looking in the direction of the voice he saw the kid that had distracted him earlier. She looked like she was just into her teens and while she seemed scared she didn't back down when he looked at her.

"Don't call me sir. I'm not in the military." He almost growled. Now the kid did look like she was going to lose her nerve when another voice spoke up.

"Well since you never introduced yourself what did you expect her to call you?" Despite everything that had just happened in the last few minutes the voice actually sounded annoyed with him. Looking at it's source Wolverine was surprised to find it belonged to a short, old women who was currently checking one of the brawlers whose head was bleeding. She didn't even look up when she spoke again. "Well, do you have a name or not?" Surprised at the woman's bluntness Wolverine decided to answer, if for no other reason then to keep suspicions about him low.

"Call me Logan." He said.

"There now was that so hard?" The woman asked as she finished tying a bandage around the brawler's head. She turned around and faced him, no sign of fear in her eyes. "I'm Pinako Rockbell and this is my granddaughter, Winry." She said, nodding towards the kid. "And I believe she had something to tell you." Turning back towards the kid Wolverine saw that while she was still intimidated by him she didn't look like she was going to bolt either.

"Mr. Logan...well…uh." Wolverine was about to tell her not to call him Mr. either when she suddenly got to the point. "Your back." She said, pointing. Wolverine gave her a confused look but began feeling around his back when he felt what she must have been talking about under his right shoulder. Looked like he had picked up an unwanted souvenir when had gone through that window.

"Thanks kid." He said as he attempted to get a better grip on the shard of glass. "Sometimes when the adrenaline gets going it's easy to forget about little things like this." He grabbed the exposed end and gave a slight tug. He gave a slight grunt as he felt the glass shift but not loosen, cutting his back even more. "Must be in deeper then it looks." He said, trying to cover up the fact that he found out not only that the glass was buried deep into his back, but that it was larger then it looked. Steeling himself for the pain he knew was coming he tightened his grip and gave one strong, continuous pull. The shard didn't come willingly but slowly and with a disgusting sucking sound he was able to pull it free. The wound bleed freely for a second before his healing ability closed it but that was forgotten as he looked at the glass shard and one thought entered his mind. (Oh shit.)

The shard was easily the size of a large combat knife and just as sharp. The blood on the blade of the shard showed just how far it had penetrated, several inches in all. Any idiot could see with a wound that would have been caused by that he should be on the ground bleeding out. The kid had the most obvious reaction. Her eyes seemed to double in size and her mouth hung slightly open. The old lady, on the other hand, had a much more subdued reaction.

"Looks like there's more to you then at first glance stranger." She said, almost smiling. Glaring at her Wolverine dropped the shard and stomped on it with his boot, shattering it even further. "You still need medical treatment, and that wound is more then I can deal with here."

"I'll be fine." Wolverine responded. "You've got your work cut out for you as it is." He motioned to the injured barflies.

"Oh them." Pinako said with an almost dismissive half look. "It looks like there's nothing here that I'll really be needed for." To prove her point a loud pop followed by more screaming came from inside the bar. "You see, they're doing just fine on their own. Now as for you…"

"I don't need any help." Wolverine growled. Winry, and anyone else who might have heard it, knew what that tone meant. Drop it now or else. Pinako, however, only frowned.

"I've never let stubbornness stop me before and I'm not going to start now. If you don't want me to treat you maybe you should go to the hospital and explain how this happened." She walked up and, to Winry's horror, slapped Wolverine where the glass had cut him. He gave no indication of pain, not even in his eyes. What his eyes did show was a furious glare and his hands tightened into fists. For a second Winry was afraid he was going to hit her grandmother but slowly his eyes lost their fury. That seemed little consolation as he was still very pissed off.

"Fine." He finally snarled, taking another puff of the cigar. The old woman smiled and for a spilt second Wolverine thought about telling her to shove it and walk away. That would not have been smart. He was on thin ice as it was and the last thing he needed was the police, or worse the military, looking for him. The old bat was smart, and she had a lot of guts, but Wolverine couldn't help but wonder why she was so interested in getting him out of here. Situations like this never ended well so he decided to keep his paranoia up until he knew just what was going on.

"I'm glad you came to your senses Mr. Logan." Pinako said as she went about gathering her things.

"Don't call me mister, and don't call me sir." Wolverine warned her. "The name is Logan, and nothing else."

"Very well Logan, if you insist." Pinako said, ignoring his tone of voice. "But I expect you to show us the same courtesy and you can start by not calling Winry kid anymore." Wolverine glanced over at Winry before answering.

"Whatever you say, granny." Now it was Pinako's turn to look annoyed. Wolverine smirked at her reaction and Winry sighed. This was not going to go well.

Several minutes later the three of them were walking out of town. Winry and Pinako ahead with Wolverine following a good distance behind them. There were two reasons he did this. If anything happened he'd have plenty of warning and time to react. More importantly from back here the other two would think he wouldn't be able to hear them. Even though they did speak in hushed tones Wolverine was able to hear every word. It was an interesting conversation to say the least.

"Grandma what are you doing?!" Winry asked as quietly as she could without shouting. "He could be a chimera, or a homunculus!!" It was easy to detect the panic in her voice when she said the last word. Wolverine had no idea what she was talking about but whatever it was had her really scared.

"He's not a homunculus." Pinako answered with calm certainty. "He looks and acts too human, and even though he was more then capable he held back and didn't kill anyone. That's not something any homunculus would do on purpose. As for a chimera," She gave a slight shrug. "I don't know what kind of animal he could have been bonded with that would allow him to heal so quickly."

"So what is he?" Winry asked.

"It could be he's just an alchemist that we've never seen or heard of before." Pinako answered. "Armstrong can use alchemy to increase his strength so it's possible that it can be used to heal the body."

"But I couldn't see any transmutation circle." Winry said. "Even if he had one I didn't see him activate it."

"That's why I believe he might be connected with what the boys are doing."

"They never did say what the experiment was." Winry said thoughtfully. " Just that it was combining alchemy with some other type of science." She looked back at Wolverine. He kept his face neutral but that meant he was still scowling. Winry quickly turned back. "Do you think he's a result of it?"

"Possibly." Pinako answered. "A new form of alchemy suddenly appears right about the same time the experiment is supposed to happen, right in their own hometown. That's too convenient to be a coincidence."

"Maybe he's here to help Ed and Al." Winry suggested. "He just got here ahead of them and.."

"I think it would be wise if we waited and asked Logan about this later." Pinako said in a warning tone, glancing back. There was no way she could have known Wolverine was listening in, but she wasn't going to take that chance. It didn't matter because Wolverine already heard everything he wanted to. If these two knew the two most powerful mutants on this world it increased the chances of them getting help. He was willing to play diplomat for now and let someone else take over once he gave these two the rundown of what was going on. It was quiet walk the rest of the way and as they approached the house Wolverine caught a whiff of something that shouldn't be there and tensed up.

"Something wrong Logan?" Pinako asked.

"You bet there's something wrong." A familiar voice said. The door to the house opened and the drunk that started the bar fight stepped out. "You've got to get better locks Rockbell, it took me about ten seconds to pick them." If he sounded braver then before the only reason was because of the machine pistol he had pointed at them. Two more men walked out from behind opposite corners of the house, both armed like their boss with what Wolverine gauged as a cheap UZI knockoff.

"Didn't have enough the first time?" Wolverine asked, trying to keep their attention, and aim, away from the Rockbells.

"I was right about you." The drunk said. "I'm ex-military so I know the type. I don't know just what the hell you are but what I do know is that you don't belong here." He and the other two men walked past the Rockbells so they all had their backs to them. "You probably don't deserve to live either."

"You three had better think about what you're doing." Pinako warned.

"Shut up you hag!" The drunk shouted, pointing his gun at her then Winry. "Unless you think the two of you have suddenly become bullet proof."

"Uh, boss." One the flunkies said. The drunk turned back around and saw Wolverine walking towards them, ignoring the weapons that were pointed at him.

"If he wants to die that badly I say we help him." The drunk said and aimed his gun. The other two aimed but Wolverine continued walking slowly towards them.

"Make sure you get it right." He told the three. The drunk turned red with anger and squeezed the trigger. The burst hit Wolverine in the shoulder and it jerked back as blood flew, but other then grimace slightly he gave no reaction. The three opened up, all at once. At this range it was impossible for even them to miss and they made use of the large magazines their weapons had. Plumes of red exploded from Wolverine's chest and torso as he jerked in response to the bullet strikes but he remained standing. The gunfire seemed to drag on forever when Wolverine finally fell onto his back and didn't move. The drunk chuckled and the two thugs smirked. Their sense of victory didn't last long.

"MONSTERS!!" Winry shrieked and before any of them could even turn around a wrench hit one of the thugs dead center in the back of the skull. His eyes rolled back and he hit the ground, out cold, before anyone knew what had happened. The drunk and the other thug turned around and saw a furious looking Winry, not to mention a proud looking Pinako, looking at them.

Logan had scared Winry, even terrified her, but when he had been attacked she had risen to his defense. She didn't really think they would shoot him, just scare him a little. When that first burst of gunfire had hit him she was frozen in shock. As they continued she found herself unable to move, not comprehending that they were shooting him to pieces in cold blood. When Logan hit the ground and the gunfire stopped it seemed to snap her back to the present and she didn't hesitate to grab the wrench she had absentmindedly put in her pocket. The other two turned around and when they saw their assailant pointed their guns at her.

"We had to do it." The drunk told her. "Who knows what he really was and what he would have done."

"We probably just saved your lives." The second thug added. "Talk about ungrateful." Winry just continued to look at them with a combination of fury and hatred.

"You want to join him?" The drunk asked angrily, loudly chambering a new round to make his point. The look on Winry's face held for a second before it changed to one that looked like a combination of complete shock and a trace of fear. Next to her Pinako had a similar look of surprise but did not look quite as frightened. The drunk was about to complement them on wising up when he noticed something strange. They weren't looking at him, or even the other thug. They were looking….past him?

Snikt

The two slowly turned around and saw what the Rockbells saw. Wolverine was standing, blood soaking the front of him and looking none the worse for wear after being shot up. In addition he now had three nasty looking claws protruding from each hand. The color drained away from their faces and the weapons they had started to tremble.

"RRRAAHHHH!!!"

Wolverine's battle cry rang out as he charged at the second thug. The man tried to bring his weapon to bear but with one swipe the adamantium claws sliced clean through it. He brought the same arm back and buried his elbow into the thug's stomach. When the thug doubled over Wolverine stood and brought his elbow down onto the thug's head, knocking him unconscious and onto his face. Turning toward the drunk Wolverine leapt at his final target and knocked the man to the ground before he could even get his weapon up. Holding the drunk down with one hand he brought his other fist down on the man's head. With a normal fist it would have hurt, with Wolverine's claws his head would have been split open but it didn't. Two claws buried themselves in the ground on both sides of the drunk's head and left him staring right at the slightly extended third one.

"Give me one reason." Wolverine growled. "I dare ya." The third claw slowly extended and was headed for right between the drunk's eyes.

"Killing him isn't the answer Logan." Wolverine looked over and saw Pinako, calm as ever, standing next to an amazed Winry.

"And what do you suggest?" Wolverine snarled. "That we let him go so he can tell everyone what happened?"

"Of course not." She answered. "But I do have something that will help explain what happened here." Wolverine raised an eyebrow at the statement. This he had to see.

"Are you crazy!?!?" The drunk screamed. "Didn't you just see what he did?! He's a monster!!! He…." Wolverine's third claw shot forward and stopped just as it touched the man's skin. The effect was immediate as the drunk fainted. This time he had lost total control of his bladder and, Wolverine noted with disgust, his bowels.

About fifteen minutes later Pinako was explaining what had happened to several policemen who had arrived after hearing reports of gunfire.

"As I was treating Mr. Logan he became quite interested in my automail designs." She said, motioning towards Wolverine. He was leaning against the side of the house and had on a red shirt one of Pinako's patients had left behind after finding out his automail would make it impossible to wear. "He was quite interested in a special attachment I've been working on for a patient that likes to climb mountains." She held up a device that looked like part of an automail arm. Flipping a switch to mimic what a wearer's fist would do she made three blades shoot out from the front of the device. Wolverine cocked his head and turned towards Winry, who obviously enjoyed seeing this little toy being shown off.

"And as he was viewing it these three attacked you?" The head cop asked, motioning to the still unconscious thugs. Pinako nodded.

"Fortunately they were very bad shots and Mr. Logan was able to subdue them before anyone was hurt. It's amazing how well he handled this attachment even without an automail arm." The device did look like it could just be strapped someone's wrist and used manually. Still the cop looked at her doubtfully. This thing that she had been working on for a while looked brand new. And from how the bodies and shell casings were positioned it was obvious that they had been attacking someone coming towards the house, not walking away from it.

"So they'll tell me the same thing?" The cop asked, again motioning toward the downed thugs.

"Not likely." She scoffed. "They were so drunk they probably didn't even know what was going on." The cop looked at Pinako then back to the thugs.

"I guess that we have all we need." He finally said. "We'll get them out of here as soon as possible." Wolverine shook his head, wondering how Pinako had so much pull with everyone. After the police had left Pinako walked over to Wolverine and Winry.

"I've gotta admit, that's a really good piece of hardware for only ten minutes work." Wolverine said as he took the mechanical claw and looked over at Winry. For the first time since he had met her the girl smiled, very proud of her accomplishment. "But why did you help me? I almost got you both killed."

"True." Pinako agreed. She then gave Wolverine a knowing half smile before continuing. "Then you made sure they didn't do anything to us. I knew you weren't a bad person, you learn how to recognize people like that. In spite of your best efforts you didn't have us fooled." Wolverine only snorted at the comment. Winry looked slightly embarrassed. She might have been afraid of Logan and seemed to not trust him but she knew her grandmother was right. In the back of her mind she seemed to know Logan wouldn't hurt either of them, but the way he acted just made it near impossible to believe that. She didn't have a second thought about helping him when he was in trouble, but it had taken him almost being killed for her to do anything.

"Good throw by the way." Wolverine stated, able to see the look of guilt on her face. "Probably would give Daredevil a run for his money." She smiled at the compliment, though not fully understanding the second part. He didn't blame her for not acting sooner, he was actually kind of surprised that she had done anything as freaked out as she looked. He was going to have to stop underestimating people of this world.

"There's still one important matter we need to discuss." Pinako said, becoming serious again. "You're obviously not a homunculus, but you're not a chimera either." She nodded towards Wolverine's now sheathed claws. "Everything about them is organic, not metal. I think it's about time, Mr. Logan, that you tell us who you really are."

"If you insist, granny." Wolverine shot back. "Have either of you ever heard of mutants?"


	4. Explanations and More Introductions

Chapter 4: Explanations and More Introductions

It wasn't unusual for the communications room of the Gate lab to be quiet. It was a top-secret facility after all, and only the highest-ranking members of the State would occasionally check in for progress reports. Now instead of being merely quiet it was dead silent, because it was empty except for one man whose conversation could barely be heard through the shut door. When Mustang had first asked to get a call through to Central it was a bit confusing. It was odd that a Colonel would make a call to the capital just to report the failure of today's test. It was even odder that he would order everyone out of the room while he was making the call. When he was overheard asking to talk to the Fuehrer things really got suspicious. That's when the rumors began to work their way down. The soldiers that had helped Hughes with the bodies from the battle outside weren't as tightlipped as they should have been. As a result half a dozen stories began circulating at once. That one of the soldiers had been literally been ripped open and half of his insides eaten, that one's head was so badly crushed that it wouldn't hold its shape. All of them sounded like exaggerations, and they were, but one thing everyone could figure out was that the strange looking man and even stranger looking woman that had come back with Mustang were part of what happened. The fact that they were currently being treated as guests made everyone except Hawkeye and Hughes very nervous.

Mustang was on the phone for about twenty minutes, ignoring the fact that someone probably had their ear against the door listening. He didn't have a problem with them overhearing any of this, they knew how to keep a secret, even if they didn't look like they fully comprehended what he was talking about.

"Understood sir. We'll get started right away." He said before hanging up the phone. In the hall Hughes stood up and walked away from the door as he heard footsteps coming towards it. Standing next to Hawkeye he just shrugged his shoulders. The only thing he could tell for sure was that Mustang had been speaking with the Fuehrer but not any of the details. The door opened and Mustang stepped out, pausing to scan the group with an accusing look. His eyes stopped for a second on Hughes who put on his best 'who me?' face. "Whatever any of you may have heard is top secret information and the only thing you need to understand is that Magneto and his men are now our allies. Everyone will receive a full briefing later but until that time you are not to speak a word of this to anyone. Is that understood?

"Yes sir!" The technicians responded. Satisfied Mustang turned and left the room, followed by Hughes and Hawkeye.

"So the Fuehrer really agreed to all this?" Hughes asked as they made their way back to the library. Like the others he wasn't about to trust Magneto after what had happened and was more than willing to say it.

"He believed the benefits outweighed the risks." Mustang answered. Hughes was about to say something else but Mustang continued. "He's also ordered limitations to this partnership."

"Limitations?" Hughes asked.

"You'll see." Was the only thing Mustang said. When they entered the library they saw Magneto sitting in one of several armchairs facing away from them, reading the book he had taken earlier. Mystique was at his side, apparently reading over his shoulder but he did not seem to mind. Hearing the door open Mystique turned to look at them but Magneto didn't move.

"Your leaders have reached a decision?" He asked, already knowing the answer. "I had not expected it to be made in such haste." Decisions made this quickly usually meant that it was bad news for the second party.

"I believe you'll find it reasonable." Mustang answered. Magneto was silent as he closed the book and stood up.

"Favorable can mean many things to different people." Magneto said as he walked over to the State soldiers.

"True, but we should both be able to agree on this." Mustang said. Magneto said nothing and folded his arms across his chest. Seeing that he wasn't going to be interrupted again Mustang continued. "Since you are from a foreign land and have offered your services to the State in a show of friendship your group will be considered military advisors for the duration of your stay. You will work alongside the State, and in accordance to your request you will have the final say on whether or not your forces will participate on assigned missions. However along with this there will be one condition that is not negotiable."

"Only one?" Mystique asked sarcastically. Mustang shifted his gaze to her in an annoyed glare. She gave him one of her best smiles in response. Deciding to deal with this particular problem later he returned his attention to Magneto, who was patiently waiting for him to continue.

"You'll be attached to my own unit, and we will act as the official liaison between you and the State. Your rank will be equal to mine but if you wish to use State manpower or resources it must go through me. Working with established State alchemists will help give legitimacy to the cover story that is already being prepared."

"And allow the best of your own army, alchemists included, to keep an eye on us." Magneto added. Mustang knew Magneto would easily see through his explanation and made no attempt to deny it.

"Would you do any different?" He asked the mutant leader.

"No." Magneto answered.

"Then you can understand our cautious approach." Mustang said. "I've given you the terms set forth by my superiors. What is your decision?" The room was silent for several seconds before Magneto answered.

"Your terms are acceptable." Though they gave no outward reaction Mustang could feel the disapproval from Hawkeye and Hughes. He would be lying if he said he wasn't a little apprehensive about this himself but this was the situation and they had to use it to their best advantage.

"Officially you aren't part of our military but since you'll be working with it you have been given titles and ranks accordingly. As I said before your rank will be the same as mine, Colonel. Being a state alchemist comes with a rank equivalent to Major, which means all of your subordinates now have command authority over anyone of lower rank. How you structure that command is up to you."

"And these titles, what are they?" Magneto asked.

"All State alchemists are given titles to differentiate them from civilian alchemists. As an example I'm known as the Flame Alchemist."

"Flame Alchemist?" Mystique asked with a knowing smirk.

"Some titles reflect the ability of the individual." Mustang answered calmly. "Others the personality. Yours is the former since a name based on your personality would be unprintable in civilian newspapers. We can't have any children reading something like that now can we?" He asked, his tone never changing. Mystique's smirk vanished and she narrowed her yellow eyes. Behind Mustang Hughes let out a snort of laughter.

"Sorry." He said, not sounding very apologetic. Mustang had really left the insult up to the imagination of his listeners and even though everyone had a different thought to what that name might be it was sure to be the most profane and disgusting thing they could think of.

"As a result you've been designated the Shape Shifting Alchemist." Mustang said, ignoring the glare Mystique was giving him. "When I explained your powers." He said to Magneto. "It was decided to designate you the Metal Bending Alchemist. Sabertooth's chosen alias is the Feral Alchemist. I've been tasked with giving the rest of your group their titles once they've been 'officially' brought into the fold." Magneto nodded in understanding.

"Mystique, please go and bring the others here. I think it's time that they meet with our generous hosts." Mystique said nothing but continued to glare at Mustang as she walked past him. Mustang didn't even acknowledge she was there. "My congratulations Colonel." Magneto said after the door had closed. "I've not seen anyone who has ever angered Mystique so easily."

"Roy does have a way with the ladies." Hughes commented. This time Mustang scowled and glared at Hughes, who only smirked in response.

"I see." Magneto commented and left it at that. "Now that the formalities are out of the way I believe we should get down to our first order of business, the X-Men."

As Magneto was finalizing his alliance with the State Winry and Pinako Rockbell sat at their kitchen table, listening to Wolverine tell them just how he preformed his alchemy. It had started off with a bit of very interesting information, that it wasn't. Not alchemy described with another name, as the two had thought when he had asked them if they knew about mutants, but a mutation plain and simple. That had gone over real well.

"Mr. Logan, my granddaughter and I are not fools. What happened outside could not have happened through natural means, even if you do claim to be a mutant." As a doctor Pinako had of course heard of mutations before. Genetic mutation could cause things as harmless as two different colored eyes to things as deadly as cancer. Mutations, however, did not allow someone to survive the massive amount of gunshot trauma that had been inflicted on Logan, let alone not have a scratch five minutes later.

"It's just as natural as your alchemists." Wolverine retorted, relighting his now very beat up cigar. "I heard what the Elric brothers can do, and I know a couple of mutants that can do the same kind of stuff. Call it what you want but mutant is what they are."

"I do not know why you would refer to alchemists in such derogatory way and I'm sure you have your reasons." Pinako said, becoming angry. "But I will not have you talk about Edward or Alphonse that way. They may be stubborn, foolhardy and a bit impulsive at times but they will not be spoken of as nothing but an abnormality of nature."

"How could you even think that?!" Winry demanded. "You don't even know Ed or Al and you're saying that they're freaks!"

"No, I don't know them." Logan coolly admitted. "And from what I've heard they're good kids but when you're born with powers like that a freak is what you are. From where I come from it's a hard fact of life and that doesn't change, no matter what."

"Well where you're from sounds like one of the worst places on Earth!!" Winry shouted. "You can't judge a person just because they can do something no one else can!!" Wolverine calmly puffed on his cigar as Winry vented, hearing this kind of speech so many times made it easy to tune out. The girl's heart was in the right place but right now he was using all the tact that, well that he used in most situations. When Winry had finished he looked over at the old bat, wondering if she would get into her own 'holier then thou' speech. Instead she was giving him a scrutinizing gaze, which he thought was because she was being more levelheaded then her granddaughter. He was partly right in that regard, she was being levelheaded but because she had caught something Winry hadn't.

"Why would you think the boys were born with the ability to perform alchemy?" She asked. The question got a confused look from both Winry and Wolverine but Winry quickly realized Pinako was right and turned to Wolverine with a questioning look of her own.

"Why wouldn't I?" Wolverine asked in return. Now Pinako was frowning and Winry was looking at him like he was from another planet, which was absolutely true. Now things were starting to get confusing. He knew he probably would be wrong on a few things with such spotty information from the bar but he didn't think he would get it _this _wrong. From what he could understand the Elric brothers had been able to do this kind of stuff since they were little kids, and by Wolverine's best estimation that meant they were mutants. Magic didn't exist on this world and the technological level, with the exception of the guns, looked like it was turn of the century. Well the X-Men didn't keep him around for his detective skills so he might as well stop second guessing and start asking questions. "So what's the deal then?" No sense in trying to pretend he knew what he was talking about anymore.

"They learned." Pinako answered. "They were very quick and gifted learners but they were not born able to perform alchemy. I suggest you stop trying to mislead us Mr. Logan. Do you expect us to believe you were born with those claws of yours?"

"What these?" Wolverine asked and brought up a fist. He popped his claws, getting no reaction from Pinako and making Winry jump a little. "I got these when someone 'volunteered' me for some Doc Frankenstein experiments." He retracted his claws and showed them his hand just as his healing process finished closing the wounds. "_**That's**_ what I was born with." This time Winry and Pinako watched Wolverine very carefully for any signs of a transmutation circle activation. There was nothing and Winry gave her grandmother an anxious look. It appeared that he was telling the truth but that led to even more questions.

"I've never heard of mutations giving people powers like yours before, but it's hard to ignore what we've seen." Pinako said, willing to accept Wolverine's explanation. "That still does not explain where you're from or why you're here. I'm guessing there is a reason you have for coming here, and it's not coincidence."

"Looking for help." Wolverine almost spat, sounding like he hated having to say it. He didn't look like he wanted to say what he was about to either. "The team of mutants I work with, the X-Men, we kind of got stuck on this planet and we're looking for a way back home. And I ain't no alien!" He added before they could accuse him of being one.

"That's quite a contradiction. Claiming not to be from this planet but not be an alien either. I suppose you have an explanation for that as well?" Pinako asked. Based on what she had heard so far his next answer would be very interesting to say the least.

"Yeah, but don't ask me to go into any details." Wolverine answered. "The main reason is because of a guy we've had plenty of scraps with before, calls himself Magneto. He thinks that mutants should be in charge, and regular humans should be dead so it's up to guys like us to make sure that doesn't happen. We were trying to bust up his latest scheme, some kind of machine he built to take him and some of his flunkies from our Earth to an alternate one." He held up his hand as Winry opened her mouth to say something. "I said don't ask me for details. I'm just a dumb grunt and all this science stuff gives me a headache. So we're about to turn his new toy into a pile of junk when it decides to zap us instead. Next thing I know the six of us are waking up in the woods with a small town not that far off. The only thing we knew for sure was that we weren't on the same old mudball anymore. We figured I should go have a look around and see if I could find out if the locals were friendly and if there was anyway to get us back. Looks like it'll be easy enough to hide but I doubt this place can help us get home. Sorry if it didn't sound very exciting but storytelling isn't my thing." Pinako regarded his words before speaking.

"It is an incredible story." She admitted. "Though in light of what you've told us so far incredible shouldn't be surprising. In fact if it hadn't been for the unintentional demonstration of your mutant powers outside I doubt we would have believed any of it. "

"Believe what you want lady. All I know is that we're stuck here for good unless we can find Magneto and make him take us back, if he can."

"You might be mistaken in that regard Logan." She told him. "Not long before you arrived Ed and Al were called away to help with some sort of highly dangerous experiment for the State."

"No offence granny but I don't think even the most high tech gadgets your guys can make come anywhere near what Mags had set up." Wolverine replied.

"Alchemy can do incredible things." Pinako told him. "You'd be surprised at what is possible when it's applied in the right way." Wolverine grunted in response. He wasn't one to believe claims like that easily but dealing with magic back home had taught him not to completely dismiss them either.

"The experiment you thought I was part of?" He asked. "Good ears." Was all he said when they looked at him.

"Yes that one." Pinako confirmed, unsurprised to know he had heard them talking. "We don't know what exactly they were doing but I think you'll agree that the timing of the experiment and you arriving here is just a little bit..."

"Convenient?" Wolverine finished using the exact term she had used earlier. "Maybe, but without knowing what they were doing…"

"I think we'll be able to find out soon enough." Pinako said with a knowing smile. "Ed and Al will come back sooner or later, and if I know Edward it won't be that difficult to find out what the 'secret' project was."

"You guys don't like the military much huh?" Wolverine asked. Pinako shook her head no. "Good, neither do we." He paused before continuing. "I think it's a good idea to bring the others in on this now. I got a feeling this is something they would want to hear, and I'm finished playing messenger boy."

"Your friends are welcome to come here if they want." Pinako said. "And don't worry about room; I'm sure I've got plenty of space if you need it."

"Thanks but I doubt we'll be sticking around here too long if this alchemy thing is what got us here in the first place." Wolverine answered.

"Are they going to be able to get here without being seen?" Winry asked. "We could go with you to get them help guide you to them and back." She suggested. She wasn't exactly an expert in the terrain but she knew a few tricks if you didn't want to bee seen.

"Appreciate the offer kid but they can get here on their own no problem. As for going to get them, if you'll give me my shirt back I'll take care of it." Winry looked at her grandmother and Pinako shrugged in response. Winry got up and left the room to go get the shirt and Pinako looked back at Wolverine.

"We searched it already and didn't find anything." She told him, thinking that whatever he expected to find wasn't there anymore.

"That's cause you didn't look in the right places." He replied as Winry came back in with the blood soaked top of his uniform.

"Sorry but we haven't had a chance to wash it yet." She apologized as she handed it to him.

"Don't worry about it." He told her. "I've worn stuff worse off then this before." He pressed down on an X shaped button of the collar and there was a faint click followed by a beep. "Yo boss man, you hear me?"

"Loud and clear Wolverine." Another voice said. "What's your status?"

"Found some locals that are willing to give us a hand. It's a long story so you should probably come and hear it yourselves."

"Are they trustworthy?" The voice asked.

"Guess you're gonna have to find that out for yourself." Wolverine answered gruffly, sounding he didn't like having his judgment insulted. It was becoming clear that these two did not like each other. Without waiting for the other person to answer he went on. "I'm in a house on the Western edge of the town, not far from the woods. Don't think you can miss it."

"We'll be there as soon as we can." The second voice said, clearly becoming annoyed with Wolverine's attitude. "Until then, don't bring any more attention to yourself then necessary." Wolverine growled and turned off the radio.

"Smart ass rookie." He snarled. He turned back to Pinako and Winry, the former looking at him with a questioning look and the latter looking at the miniature radio in amazement.

"How did you manage to make a radio so small?" Winry asked as she reached for the shirt.

"Trade secret." Wolverine replied, moving the shirt away from her grasp. "Sorry but I might need that later." The look of disappointment on her face couldn't help but reminded him of what Hank would look like if you took away one of his high tech gizmos while he was studying it.

"It would be very rude to take what's his without permission." Pinako added. Winry turned slightly red at the statement. To take attention off her granddaughter Pinako addressed him directly. "Wolverine?"

"Codename." He answered. "Can't have every Joe on the street finding out who we really are now can we?"

"I suppose not." Pinako agreed. "Does that mean Logan is a fake name as well?"

"No that's real. Not much people can learn when you only got one name." Pinako was about to say something when they heard the door open.

"For the last time I'm not going back there!!!" They heard a young voice shout. "They don't have any idea what they're dealing with, and I'm not gonna die just because of their stupidity!!!"

"But they said they could figure out how to make it work." An even younger voice said, one that had an odd echo to it. Wolverine could hear two sets of footsteps but neither of them sounded normal. One sounded like he had an artificial leg and the other sounded like he was wearing metal boots. What was really strange was when he sniffed the air he could only smell one person. The second smelled like metal, kind of like a robot. The door opened and Wolverine saw a blonde haired kid shorter then he was, wearing a red coat with black pants and boots. Behind him was what looked like a walking suit of armor with a pair of glowing eyes.

"Yeah and I'll believe that when…" Blondie stopped when he caught sight of Wolverine. "Who're you?" He asked. He had never seen or heard of an automail customer that looked like this and strangers were not always a good thing.

"I was about to ask you the same question bub." Wolverine gruffly responded. Blondie tensed up at the remark but Pinako spoke up before he could.

"Edward, that's no way to speak to guests." She scolded. Edward did seem cowed by the old bat's words and didn't look angry anymore. That was about to change.

"Wait a minute." Wolverine spoke up. "Edward Elric, one of the Elric brothers?"

"That's right." Ed answered, glaring at the stranger. "What?!" He asked when the stranger gave him questioning look.

"I thought you were supposed to be the older brother." Wolverine said. Ed tensed up again and Wolverine could see a vein on his temple bulging.

"Brother." The armor said, trying to calm Ed down. It wasn't working very well. Wolverine frowned and looked over at Pinako.

"Okay what's going on?" He asked. "We got a suit of armor with a little kid's voice, and the older brother has a metal arm and leg and is shorter then…" He didn't get a chance to finish that before Ed was flying right at him.

"WHO YOU CALLING SO LITTLE HE'D DROWN IN A THIMBLE FULL OF WATER!?!?!" He shouted at the top of his lungs. He knocked Wolverine and the chair he was sitting in over but while Ed had speed and surprise on his side Wolverine had decades of combat experience under his belt. Even before he hit the ground he was acting, letting that experience take over his movements. Tucking his legs in and grabbing Ed's jacket he started using the momentum of the fall to his advantage. He continued to roll and pushed the irate alchemist off him with his feet, flipping his stunned opponent over his head. "WHAAAAA?!?!?!"

CRASH ….THUD

Ed bounced off the wall and fell to the floor hard, not quite knowing where he was or how he got there. Wolverine, on the other hand, got to his feet and turned towards the downed Elric. He didn't attack and waited to see what Ed would do. The clanging from behind let him know the armor had decided to make the first move and was rushing towards him. Hiding one fist behind his leg Wolverine popped his claws and got ready to slash. What he didn't know was that while the armor hadn't seen what he did someone else had. To his surprise Winry rushed forward and grabbed the wrist that had the claws extended.

"Don't!" She shouted as she held Wolverine's arm down. He had no doubt he could get out of her grasp easily but before he could do or say anything the armor went right past him and over to Ed, checking to see if he was all right. Looking back at Winry Wolverine retracted his claws.

"That was a dumb move kid." Wolverine said to Winry as she let go of his wrist.

"I couldn't just let you hurt Al!" She told him defiantly.

"I wasn't going to hurt him." Wolverine answered. It was true enough; he had only planned to give the armor, Al, a few scratches to make him back off. After sniffing the air a few more times to make sure he decided to ask a question. "Can that guy even be hurt? There's nobody in that thing."

"How did you know that?" Winry asked. "You didn't even look…"

"I don't have to." Wolverine interrupted. "I can't smell anyone inside that armor, just the metal it's made of. It's the same way I can tell shorty over there is part cyborg." Off to the side Ed, who had slowly regaining his senses, suddenly became very aware and tried to lunge at Wolverine again when the Al grabbed him by the shoulders and stopped him, barely.

"Let me go Al!!" Ed shouted as he tried to get loose.

"Brother, he didn't do anything." The armor pleaded. Ed seemed to ignore him as he continued to struggle.

"Better listen to him if you know what's good for you, rookie." Wolverine warned. That made Ed struggle even harder. Wolverine was beginning to wonder if he would actually have to knock some sense into the kid when he caught a whiff of someone else just before he heard him.

"Is there a problem here?" A deep voice from behind asked. Turning around he saw a giant of a man wearing a blue military style uniform. He was bald except for a lock of blond hair on his forehead and a mustache that hid any trace of his mouth. He glared down at Wolverine and Wolverine glared right back at him. This guy looked like he was used to letting just his size and intimidation handle most situations and if he was expecting the same thing with Wolverine boy was he wrong.

"Not unless you're gonna cause one." Wolverine shot back. Ed actually stopped struggling and looked at the stranger in disbelief. He couldn't think of any civilian, alchemist or not, who would have faced down Major Armstrong like that. No one who didn't have a weapon and at least ten other heavily armed guys to back him up at least. Though he couldn't see his mouth Wolverine knew the Major was now frowning disapprovingly, and he didn't care. That made the possibility of a fight even more likely.

When Armstrong assessed the situation when he first entered the house he believed that it had just been the boys fighting but when he saw a stranger he thought that it had been an ambush set for the two. Of course it could have just been a misunderstanding and the man didn't know who the Elrics were, so he entered the situation to let him know just who he was dealing with. Unfortunately this man seemed to take one look at Armstrong's uniform and show nothing but contempt. To the Major this showed that the man hated the military and there was a good probability he did know who Ed and Al were and attacked them because of it. Even if that wasn't the case someone with such a disregard for authority could be very dangerous. Figuring things would only get worse if he didn't subdue the man he started to move forward. Wolverine brought up his fists and got ready for baldy to make the first move when Winry got between the two of them, her back to the Major.

"Logan, stop it!" She ordered. She was related to the old bat all right. "He's a friend and he's only looking out for Ed and Al." Wolverine looked from her back to Armstrong, who had stopped moving but still had a stone serious face.

"I thought you guys didn't like the military." Wolverine growled.

"There are exceptions to everything Mr. Logan." Pinako said as she also stepped between the two of them. "They are very few in this case but the Major here is one of them." Wolverine regarded the Major with a suspicious glare before shrugging his shoulders and turning around.

"Whatever you say granny." He finally said as he sat back down, ignoring the angry look the Major was giving him and the astonished way the Elrics were looking at him.

"Your guest seems to have trouble with his manners." Armstrong remarked to Pinako.

"Never had much use from em." Wolverine replied. "You wouldn't happen to be one of those alchemists I keep hearing about?" Being insulted by the stranger Armstrong responded in his usual way.

"I am Major Alexander Armstrong: The Strong Arm Alchemist!" He proudly declared, flexing slightly to show off the muscles underneath his coat.

"Uh huh." Was Wolverine's only response before he turned to the Ed and Al. "So I'm guessing there's one hell of a story behind him?" He asked, pointing at Al and ignoring the stunned Major.

"What if there is?!" Ed demanded.

"Just figured I should know a little about who I'm going to be teaming up with." Wolverine replied. "Better save it for later though. Stuff like that gets boring when you have to say it more then once."

"Why the hell should we tell you anything?!!" Ed shouted. This guy was acting like he was in charge and it was really pissing him off. "What gives you any right to know?!?!"

"Because if granny over there is right you two helped cause this mess in the first place." Wolverine replied. That seemed to shock Ed into a calmer, if more confused, state. Even Al's motionless face seemed to be giving him a 'what are you talking about?' type of expression.

"Perhaps you had better explain yourself." Armstrong strongly suggested as he sat down at the table across from Wolverine. The brothers might not know what the stranger meant by that but he knew of one possibility, a very slim one, that it could be. As a military man he couldn't discount the risk of living things passing through the other side of the Gate that Dr. Thomas and his crew had created. It was one of the reasons Mustang's unit had been assigned to oversee the experiment, to deal with the unlikely event of something hostile coming through.

"I already told them what I know." Wolverine answered, glancing over at the Rockbells. "You want the whole thing you're going to have to wait until my buddies get here. We'll swap stories then; in the meantime I'm sick of playing twenty questions so deal with it."

"The hell with that!" Ed screamed, walking up to stand next to Wolverine and slamming his fist onto the table. "You're telling us everything right now!!"

"Ed!!" Winry shouted, fed up with Ed's attitude. Wolverine held up his hand to tell her not to bother.

"Who's going to make me small fry, you?" Wolverine asked Ed with a smirk. Ed took the bait and clapped his hands together. His arm began to glow as it changed shape, shifting into a nasty looking blade. Wolverine only raised an eyebrow at the display, having seen similar things dozens of times before.

"Sounds like a good idea to me!" Ed said angrily, brandishing his transmuted arm threatenly and pointing it at Wolverine's chest.

"That little show supposed to impress me?" Wolverine asked. That vein on Ed's temple started bulging again and this time Wolverine made the first move. Using one hand he grabbed Ed's arm/blade and slammed it onto the table, being careful not to put it through the piece of furniture in the process. He brought his other fist up and popped his claws right in front of Ed's face. He didn't point them at Ed, he didn't need to. All he needed to do was show what he _could_ have done. Ed completely forgot about what he was about to do and focused on the metal claws in front of him. Claws that didn't come from anything attached to man's arm but out of his hand!

"What the hell are you?!?" Ed demanded to know.

"The names Wolverine, and I'm the best at what I do." Wolverine growled as he retracted his claws and let go of Ed's arm. "Ya got guts rookie but not much in the way of brains. Go off half cocked like that often enough and it'll get you killed. I'm not the bad guy here so why don't you just back off and be a good little kid until..." At the mention of 'little' Ed punched Wolverine with his flesh hand as hard as he could. Wolverine's head snapped to the side but that was more to keep Ed from breaking his hand then the force of the punch. Still…

"OWOWOWOW!!!" Ed yelped as he cradled his now throbbing fist.

"Ed, I think that's enough." Al said calmly as he led his brother away from Wolverine, and further injuries. Pinako sighed and walked over to the two so she could see just how badly Ed had mangled his hand. Al looked back at Wolverine but the look on the man's face told him not to say anything. Like Ed Al had a lot of questions for Wolverine but he had seen trying to force answers out of him was very counterproductive. He wasn't exactly a nice person but he didn't seem to be a truly mean one either. He wasn't _trying_ to hurt Ed so Al decided to give him a chance. Other people weren't about to give Wolverine the benefit of a doubt so easily. Namely Major Armstrong, who was gauging just how big of a threat Wolverine really was and how quickly it would take to subdue him if necessary.

"Don't even think about it." Wolverine snarled at Armstrong, recognizing the look in his eyes. "I've taken apart guys bigger then you before without breaking a sweat." Armstrong's frown deepened, not just because of the threat but the fact that it didn't sound like an idle boast.

"Your current choice of actions may leave me no alternative." Armstrong warned.

"There'll be no need for that Major." Pinako said as she and the others rejoined them, Ed's hand now bandaged. "While Mr. Logan has proven himself to be crass and somewhat ill tempered he isn't dangerous unless provoked. Once his friends get here I'm sure things will start to become a bit clearer." Armstrong looked from her to Winry, who looked to be silently imploring him to trust this stranger, and then back to Wolverine.

"If the Rockbells are willing to vouch for you I will trust their judgment." He told Wolverine. "But I'll be keeping my eye on you, and your friends when they arrive." He warned.

"Hey, if there's one thing the X-Men are used to is people treating us like criminals." Wolverine answered.

Gate Laboratory

"X-Men?" Mustang asked. "Who are they?"

"They're one of the groups of mutants who insist on protecting the humans of my world." Magneto answered as he sat down at the library's table. "They have been quite a thorn in my side for many years and even now it appears I cannot escape their interference."

"How can you be so sure about that?" Hughes asked. "Wasn't it only your group that got hit by that energy surge?"

"I had initially thought that but after seeing the roof of this building I'm convinced they are here as well. There were two energy bolts, correct?"

"Yes there were." Mustang confirmed. "We couldn't figure it out at first but after meeting you we believed that your group had been separated during the transition. After finding the rest of your men you then confronted us."

"A sound theory Colonel but all of my followers arrived with me in the same general area. The only logical conclusion is that the X-Men were brought with us to this world."

"And that presents us with even more problems that we'll have to deal with." Mustang finished. "First and foremost we need to know if they present a threat to the State or its citizens."

"Unless they are driven to no alternative I do not believe they will resort to violence in a situation such as this." Magneto answered. "This world is unknown to them and they will most likely hide from the population at large. They may attempt contact with your government but I do not think they will take the news that you have allied yourself with me very well. If that happens they may become uncontrollable and consider your government their enemy."

"What if we inform them of the deal you've made with the State?" Mustang asked. "That you'd stay on this world and live a peaceful existence?"

"In all likelihood they will not believe you." Magneto answered. "They consider me a criminal and will insist that I answer for my so called crimes back on my own world."

"So capture or elimination are turning into the only options." Hughes stated. He didn't like the idea of having to send soldiers, even alchemists, out to fight a team of mutants with powers they didn't know anything about.

"I would prefer not to consider elimination just yet." Magneto responded. "There is still a chance they will listen to reason and that should be the first option we use. Failing that, if we were to capture them alive and send them back to their leader, Charles Xavier, relatively unharmed even he may see that this is the best alternative and leave us alone."

"And if he doesn't?" Mustang asked. The answer didn't sit well with him. It could mean all out invasion from that other world.

"I don't know." Magneto answered truthfully. "I'm hoping that it will not come to that."

"We'll have to deal with that when we get to it." Mustang stated. "In the meantime I'll have a search for these X-Men started immediately. I'll need physical descriptions of each one of them as well as what their powers are." He turned to Hughes before continuing. "Orders will be to initiate peaceful contact but not to confront them unless absolutely necessary. Send a message to Reesembol and tell Major Armstrong to bring Fullmetal back here immediately. I didn't want to bring him into this until later but if we end up fighting these mutants he'll need a full briefing."

"Fullmetal?" Magneto asked.

"One of the best alchemists the State has." Mustang answered. He would have had to tell Magneto about the people under his command eventually but he was going to keep as much information from him as possible. He might have more mutants up his sleeve but Mustang had a trick or two of his own. "I'll contact Central and alert them of this new development." He finished telling Hughes.

"With your permission Colonel I would like to have a look at any information on the State alchemists under your command. It will help in choosing which ones are suited for confronting the X-Men should it come to that." Mustang regarded Magneto for a second before turning to Hawkeye.

"There should be some personnel files here that he can look at. See that he gets everything he needs." He told her, knowing she'd hear the unspoken 'to know' at the end of the sentence.

"Yes sir." Hawkeye replied with a salute.

"I'll expect detailed reports of all your own men and their powers in return." Mustang told Magneto. Before the mutant leader had a chance to answer the door to the library opened and a new voice was heard.

"No need that that old boy, we'll be happy ta show off for ya." The strangely accented voice came from a blond man dressed in bright red and yellow costume. A mask covered his eyes but his mouth was still visible and they could see the man was grinning. Some sort of nozzle was attached to the top of each of his hands with a tube that ran from it to a liquid filled tank on his back. Next to him was a short man dressed in a filthy green shirt and black pants, looking around the room and it's occupants in a very paranoid way through thick goggles. There was also something else very unique about the two of them. Something that became painfully obvious when they inhaled. Hawkeye coughed once and covered her mouth with her hand, looking slightly nauseated. As usual Hughes wasn't afraid to let his own thoughts be known to everyone else.

"Oh man! Is that coming from them?" He asked, covering his own mouth and fighting the urge to gag. The smell was overpowering, like a piece of rancid meat that had been left rotting in a backed up sewer for a few weeks.

"That would be him." The man in red and yellow said, pointing to the man in green. "You get used to it after a while, believe it or not." Mustang didn't say anything or have any visible reaction but his eyes were burning and beginning to water. Not willing to risk gagging if he tried to talk he glanced over to Magneto for an explanation.

"Colonel Mustang, may I introduce Pyro, and Toad." He said motioning to the man in red and yellow then to the one in green.

"You're Mustang?" Pyro asked before the Colonel could comment one way or another. "You're the sot that calls himself the Flame Alchemist?" He asked, sounding surprised that the answer would be yes. "So what the hell makes you so bloody special?" The scowl returned to Mustang's face as he waited for Magneto to reprimand Pyro for showing such insubordination. After several seconds of silence he realized Magneto was going to say nothing and turned to face him, even more annoyed.

"They are not soldiers Colonel and you should not expect them to act as such. So long as they are willing to fight and obey the orders of their leaders I will allow them to assist me in the cause of mutant liberation."

"Such attitudes in your subordinates can be a serious liability." Mustang said, glaring Pyro.

"In a war for the survival of your species such liabilities are acceptable." Magneto countered.

"Tough luck mate, but guess that's what life does to you sometimes." Pyro said. "Now, back to that little discussion we're having. Why should some bloke like you be called the Flame Alchemist when you got someone like me?" Since Magneto wasn't willing to discipline Pyro Mustang decided he would have to. Slipping on a glove he continued to glare angrily at the insubordinate mutant. "What's that then? Going to challenge me to a duel now are you?"

"Something like that." Mustang replied and snapped his fingers. The area in front of Pyro and Toad exploded into a wall of carefully controlled flames. The blast made Toad jump and scramble behind Pyro but the other mutant watched the display very casually, almost like he was bored. The flames burned themselves out the two fire wielders stood facing each other.

"What, was that it?" Pyro asked, sounding like he had expected more to happen. Mustang's scowl deepened. "_That_ was the best you got? Oooo you can make stuff blow up. That makes you and at least another dozen guys that I know, big deal. No wonder you blokes wanted our help so badly." Mustang began clenching his fists to try and keep his anger in check.

"You're saying you can do better?" Mustang challenged, surprisingly calm in spite of how angry he was becoming.

"You bet I can." Pyro answered and aimed the nozzle on his right fist. Hughes and Hawkeye nervously prepared to go for their weapons but Mustang remained motionless. A jet of flame shot from the nozzle and hit the stone floor several feet in front of Mustang. This time it was the Colonel's turn to look unimpressed.

"This is better?" He asked, not taking his eyes off Pyro. "Showing you can aim a weapon any common foot soldier can use? It's hardly grounds for any special consideration."

"Sure any idiot can use one of these babies." Pyro agreed, adding another burst of flame into the fire on the floor. "But it takes real talent to this." He added as he shut off his flamethrower. "Go on then, say hello." Mustang couldn't figure out what Pyro meant until the mutant glanced down. Mustang followed the line of sight and felt his eyes widen at what he saw. Hughes and Hawkeye, who had been watching the Colonel's reactions, looked down and had similar reactions.

"What the hell?" Hughes asked, giving voice to what they were all thinking. Sitting at Mustang's feet was a large dog, one that was made completely out of fire. The details weren't perfect but they could make out fur, teeth, eyes, even a tongue that hung out of its mouth. When the 'dog' noticed Mustang was looking at it the 'tail' began wagging, just like it would have with a real dog.

"Aww, he likes you." Pyro said. "Why don't you shake and be friends?" The dog raised one of its front paws and held if out to Mustang, who was not even going to think about shaking it. "Don't like dogs huh? Maybe you're more of a cat person." The fire that composed the dog broke its form and began swirling, reforming itself into a tiger, complete with stripes composed of differing colored flames. The big cat slashed with its 'claws' but Mustang remained perfectly still, not willing to let the mutant scare him. The claws missed but they were close enough so that Mustang could feel the heat. He didn't even blink, daring Pyro to do better.

"The son of a bitch is crazy." Hughes muttered, though Hawkeye could only guess if he meant the Colonel or Pyro.

"Not bad Colonel." Pyro admitted. "Why don't you give yourself a hand?" The flame began to swirl again and molded itself into a more humanoid shape. One that was wearing the uniform of a State Alchemist, and had an almost perfect copy of Roy Mustang's face! Despite his best efforts the real Mustang couldn't keep the shock from registering on his face at the sight of his fiery double. The flame Mustang brought up his hands and began clapping. Of course the only sound that could be heard was the crackle of the flames but it was still very unnerving to see something like that acting so human. "And now for the grand finale!" Pyro announced. The fire Mustang stopped clapping and held out one of his hands. The calm, composed look on the fake Mustang's face changed to one that was pure insanity. Mimicking what the real Mustang had done before the duplicate snapped his fingers and the flames that composed his body swelled outward and disappeared with a flash of light and heat, leaving only small column of smoke where he had been standing. "So, shall we start discussing that title now?" He asked Mustang with a triumphant smirk.

"There… is… no…discussion…" Mustang managed to say through teeth grinding together so tightly he was in danger of cracking them. He was also clenching his fists so hard that his knuckles were bone white. If that wasn't proof enough of how agitated he was his face was red with anger and the veins in his temples were beginning to throb. The male ego is a notoriously easy thing to bruise and Mustang's had just received the equivalent of being beaten to pulp with a metal baseball bat. Mustang wasn't one who was prone to loose his temper that easily, with his Alchemy he couldn't afford to. Right now though, he was looked like he was ready to explode, both figuratively and literally.

"Roy, I think it's time we started making those calls." Hughes said cautiously. He had to get his friend's mind back on track and away from turning Pyro into a pile of ashes. At first Mustang didn't acknowledge that Hughes had spoken but he turned to look at his two subordinates.

"You're absolutely right Maes." He agreed, sounding far too calm for Hughes or Hawkeye's liking. "There are more pressing concerns right now." He turned back to face Pyro and his voice became just as angry as it was a second ago. "Vendettas are best left for another time." He said, promising the mutant in no uncertain terms that this was not over. Not by a long shot.

"Heh." Was Pyro's only response as Mustang passed by, giving him a glare that would have told most people they were lucky to still be able to walk after what they had done. Hughes and Hawkeye followed behind, giving him similar looks as they passed him. Only after they had gone and were out of earshot did Magneto speak.

"I'm sure there were other ways of getting your retribution on Colonel Mustang then convincing Pyro to put on such an overzealous demonstration." He said to no one.

"But that wouldn't have been nearly as much fun." Mystique said as she entered the room, seeming to walk out of the shadows on the wall. It had been easy for her to 'disappear' into the background and watch the two men go at each others throats. Once she was inside the room Magneto used his powers to push the door shut.

"A bit much was it?" Pyro asked, not really thinking it was.

"Nothing that would jeopardize our alliance," Magneto answered. "but in the future I suggest we use a bit more discretion in situations like this."

"Heh, better not let Sabertooth around these guys then." Pyro said. "His idea of discretion is breaking yer neck in three places to make sure you're dead."

"That's why I told him to stay in the woods until we needed him." Mystique said. "I also thought it would be a good idea to have one more surprise waiting in the wings so he's out there to."

"Under the current circumstances it is probably the wisest thing to do." Magneto said. "Any more incidents such as this and they may come to see us a threat and not a worthwhile ally." He turned towards Pyro and Toad. "I trust that Mystique has fully explained the situation to you so I expect you to abide by the terms that have been set forth. If you do not you will suffer the consequences." He didn't need to elaborate on what those consequences would be.

"Yes sir." Toad said.

"No problem boss." Pyro added.

"Good." Magneto said and raised his hand, opening the door to the room. Pyro and Toad stood up and walked out before Magneto re-closed the door and turned to Mystique. "Now my dear, I'm sure you heard our little discussion about the X-Men and the selection of alchemists that would be needed to fight them. I don't believe the Colonel is putting forth sufficient effort into this and it would benefit both our sides if we were to help him."

Back at the Rockbell's the mood was a bit calmer. Well, quieter at any rate. Ed, Al, and Major Armstrong were keeping a wary eye on Wolverine, who now slouched in his chair with his arms folded and his head down, looking like he was asleep. Pinako, in turn, was keeping an eye on all four of them to make sure they behaved themselves. Winry had gone out back to the workshop's scrap pile to see what she could find in the way of spare electronic equipment. She was hoping that Wolverine would allow her to at least look at his radio so she could figure out how to build one of her own. As she was searching among the mounds of junk she noticed something felt strange. Looking up she saw that a thick fog was beginning to roll in. She wasn't the only one that noticed the strange weather, in the house Pinako glanced out the window and saw the fog becoming thicker.

"That's strange." She commented. "Fog usually doesn't come up this fast or thick." At that comment Wolverine raised his head and looked out the window. "Your friends?" Pinako asked him.

"Yep." Wolverine answered as he got up and walked to the door. Pinako followed him was soon joined by the boys and Major Armstrong. When they got outside they saw Wolverine standing calmly, looking out into the fog bank.

"Do your friends always go through such theatrics when arriving someplace?" Major Armstrong asked.

"It's either that or get shot at." Wolverine replied without turning around. Sniffing the air a few times he turned towards one particular direction. "Took you guys long enough." He commented to someone who didn't seem to be there. There was no answer but slowly outlines of people became visible coming through the fog. As they came closer Pinako and the others were able to make out more details. There were four of them, all clad in black clothes and even though each person had on a completely different outfit it still gave the impression of a common uniform. The one leading them was a red haired man that wore a yellow visor that had a thin red line running lengthwise down the middle. The serious and professional manner that he carried himself with showed he was in charge of this particular group.

The second man also had red hair but his eyes were visible, and were quite odd, being completely black with red irises. In addition to his uniform he wore a long brown coat not unlike the one Wolverine had stolen earlier. He seemed more casual then the leader and moved in a more relaxed manner.

The third man appeared to be more normal then the first two. Apart from his black hair that was cut in an almost military style the only thing that would set him apart from most people was his size. He stood about a head shorter then Armstrong but had a very similar build to the Major, indicating great physical power.

The final member of the group was a dark skinned woman who had long white hair, which only seemed to highlight how youthful she was instead of making her seem old. Her eyes were solid white, giving the impression she was blind even though she moved with stunning grace. Her own uniform, while technically not that revealing, still looked more then capable of making the male half of the species stop and stare like idiots.

"You never told us you were in contact with someone from the government." The visored man said, ignoring Wolverine's barb.

"He got here after I called you guys." Wolverine replied. "And according her he's one of the good guys." He said, glancing at Pinako.

"What about those two?" The visored one asked looking at Ed and Al.

"Same deal." Wolverine answered. "And it looks like the midget is the one that dragged us here in the first place."

"WHY YOU….!!!!!!" Ed shouted and rushed at Wolverine. He was almost within arms reach when Al managed to tackle him from behind. "I'LL SHOW YOU WHO'S A MIDGET!!!!" He shouted as he tried to get up from being pinned on the ground.

"And they say I have a temper." Wolverine commented.

"Ed, what did I tell you about acting in front of guests?" Pinako asked sternly. Ed calmed down, involuntarily, and Al let him up. "I'm Pinako Rockbell, this is Edward and Alphonse Elric, and that this Major Armstrong." She said motioning to each in turn. "Logan has told us you have quite a problem on your hands." The visored man stepped forward.

"Yes we do." He told her. "On behalf of all of us I'd like to thank you for the help you've given us so far." Pinako waved the comment off.

"There's no need for that. I don't want any thanks for doing the right thing. Even if I don't know who I'm helping." She told them with a half smile. The visored one nodded in understanding and started introductions.

"My name is Cyclops. This is Gambit,"

"Bonjour." The other redheaded man said in an odd accent.

"Colossus," The large man nodded his head in greeting.

"And Storm." He finished and motioned to the woman, who smiled warmly at them.

"They certainly are an interesting looking bunch." She said while looking over the group. "But Logan said that there were five that came with him, and I only count four."

"Yeah, where is the elf anyway?" Wolverine asked.

"He was a bit apprehensive about how people here would react to him so he decided to keep out of sight until we knew it was safe."

At that moment Kurt Wagner, better known as Nightcrawler, was currently peering around the corner of the house where he was hiding. He was always a bit cautious when meeting new people, especially ones who had never seen mutants before.

"Excuse me, are you one of Logan's friends?" An uncertain sounding voice from behind him asked. Nightcrawler turned around and saw it was a blond teenage girl. The girl also saw him, and that was not a good thing.

Winry had at first had paid no attention as the fog started rolling in. Like most people she wasn't bothered that much by a little fog. When she noticed that the fog was becoming so thick it was getting hard to see, on the other hand, she decided that something was up. Hearing voices in front she started walking around the house to see what was going on. The fog made it difficult to see where she was going and she nearly tripped a couple of times before resorting to using the side of the house to guide her. As she got closer she recognized Logan's voice as well as one she had never heard before. It looked like his friends had arrived. As she got closer she noticed a person at the corner of the house, it looked like he was hiding but he wasn't trying very hard. It was more like he was waiting for something. He didn't seem nervous at the sounds of Logan's voice or the second person so there was a chance he knew them. If that was the case why was he hiding? It was possible that it was one of the other mutants Logan had talked about but it didn't make sense to come here alone. Deciding to find out she approached him to see what he looked like.

"Excuse me, are you one of Logan's friends?" She asked. Whoever it was turned around and Winry felt herself gasp. Now that she was closer she saw the stranger very clearly and she wished she hadn't. Standing in front of her was something that had blue fur covering his face that surrounded two yellow, pupil-less eyes and pointed ears. There were three fingers on each hand and three toes on each foot. To top that all off it had a tail that, unlike any other animal's tail she had seen, this one seemed to move like it was another arm. It had a surprised look on its face for a second then started to smile which, unfortunately for him, had the opposite effect he had intended, showing Winry a set of long canine teeth.

"Guten Tag mein freund." It said. He was trying to sound friendly but the sound of a strange language coming from someone looking like him was something the girl was not prepared for. Her face drained of all color and her pupils shrank to pinpricks. "Oh dear." Nightcrawler sighed, knowing what was next.

"So why would he want to hide from us?" Ed asked Wolverine. "I thought you trusted us."

"If Logan trusts you we'll accept his judgment." Cyclops answered. "We're not trying to hide anything from you but….."

SHRRIIIIIEEEEEKKKKKKKK!!!!!!

All heads snapped in the direction of the earsplitting scream and while the X-men did seem concerned that quickly passed as they figured out what was going on. The rest of the group however…

"WINRY!!" Ed and Al shouted as they turned and tried to run where the scream had come from. Tried to being the operative phrase as Wolverine grabbed Al's arm and Ed by the collar of his jacket. Al stopped out of sheer surprise but Ed tried to keep going and Wolverine ended up yanking him off his feet, making him fall flat on his back.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!?" Ed shouted as he shot to his feet.

"Calm down midget, she's fine." Wolverine growled. Ed would have gone into a rage again if he didn't think he'd heard that last part wrong.

"What?!" Ed and Al asked in unison.

"Sounds like she just met Kurt, and he's harmless." He said as he let the two of them go.

"You're sure?" Al asked looking back over to the now silent area. That scream sure didn't _sound_ like Winry had run into something harmless.

"Kurt wouldn't do anything to hurt your friend." Cyclops assured them. "It's just that…people usually don't react well when they first meet him." Ed gave Cyclops a suspicious look. "It's kind of hard to explain. Maybe you should go see for yourselves."

"The bat and the tin can." Wolverine said suddenly. "They're the ones least likely to go ape shit when they see Kurt."

"HEY!!!!" Ed protested.

"See." Wolverine added.

"Mr. Logan is right Ed." Pinako broke in. "This is no time for immaturity so you'll stay here." She said with finality. "Come along Al." She said as she started walking towards the source of the scream. Al looked from Pinako to his brother, then to Wolverine. Deciding to put his trust in Pinako's judgment he turned and began to follow her.

"Gambit, you'd better go with them. Just in case." Cyclops said.

"Better to be safe then sorry no?" Gambit replied as he went to catch up with Pinako and Al.

"Hold on." Ed said as he tried to follow, only to have Wolverine grab the back of his jacket again.

"You heard the bat." He growled. "Stay put." He emphasized with a sneer. Ed balled up his metal fist and was about to swing when Major Armstrong grabbed his wrist.

"I don't think you should be risking that fist as well Ed." He told a stunned Ed and a surprised Wolverine.

"Funny. I'd half expect you to want to go charging over there with the midget here." Wolverine said as he let go of Ed's jacket. Ed tried to lunge but Armstrong kept his grip.

"Normally I would but since this situation calls for tact and not force it would be a good idea that people such as myself and young Edward here to not become part of it yet." The Major said. "I can use tact but since Miss Rockbell has appointed herself envoy to you people it would be wise not to try and change that. And Edward," He said as his face seemed rise in a smile, it was hard to tell when he seemed to have no mouth. "already showing he has no tact at all, would be an even worse choice." Wolverine gave a gruff laugh in response and Ed was about to try and knock his block off when they were interrupted by one of the weirdest noises he had ever heard.

When Winry had stopped screaming she realized something strange. The monster that she was looking at was not trying to attack her. As a matter of fact it was turned away from her, covering its ears and wincing in pain. When it realized the screaming had stopped it slowly turned around and faced Winry again.

"You have a very strong voice my friend." He said in an odd accent with a good humored grin. He was showing his fangs again but before those could really have an effect on Winry he continued. "And I thank you for having such a kind response when you saw me."

"K…Kind?" Winry stammered, caught off guard by the thing's words. Screaming in terror at the top of your lungs wasn't something that most people would consider kind.

"Yes. Normally when people have seen me after screaming they have either fainted or are running away. It is nice to only have the screaming every once in a while." He replied, still smiling.

"I..I…" Winry really didn't know how to respond. Despite this thing's demonic appearance he was not vicious and was even telling jokes to try and put her at ease. Seeing that she had calmed down a little it started speaking again.

"To answer your question yes I do know Logan and was expecting to meet him here, but it is a pleasant surprise to see he is keeping such good company." He said. Winry blushed slightly at the compliment and the thing stood straight before going into a deep bow. "Kurt Wagner, better known as The Incredible Nightcrawler, at your service miss." Winry really didn't know what to think about this thing now.

(Kurt.) She corrected herself. He had a name and was acting like a perfect gentleman, which was really a confusing contrast to his appearance. Not knowing what to do she tried to take a step back but tripped and fell, landing in a sitting position. The next thing she knew Nightcrawler was standing over her. She was about to scream again but the only thing he did was offer her his hand.

"Winry!" She heard Al shout. Turning towards the sound of the voice Nightcrawler saw Gambit accompanied by a large suit of armor and a very short old woman. The old woman seemed visibly surprised but she stayed in one place. The armor, on the other hand, started moving towards him aggressively. Thankfully Gambit snapped out his Bo and extended it so it blocked the armor's path.

"Easy there mon ami. Kurt's just trying to be helpful is all. He mean the girl no harm." He told them.

"Of course not." Nightcrawler answered, eliciting a gasp from the armor and a start from the old woman. It looked like neither of them had expected him to sound the way he did looking like this. "I cannot leave her on the ground now can I?" He asked and again offered Winry his hand. Hesitantly she accepted and he helped her to her feet. "I am sorry for frightening you miss. I'm afraid looking like this it is unavoidable."

"That's all right." Winry replied. "It's just that when Logan told us about mutants I didn't expect…"

"That some of us would look so different?" Nightcrawler asked. "That is the cross some of us must bare that comes with being who we are."

"You were.. born this way?" The armor hesitantly asked. To Al Nightcrawler looked like a chimera, the result of an alchemy experiment gone wrong. He couldn't imagine anything actually being _born_ like that. As soon as he spoke the words he realized how rude he was being and shrunk back slightly.

"Yes I was." Nightcrawler answered. Even though it was armor he was still able to read the body language. "Please do not feel sorry for me. I have learned to accept how I look, and the gifts I have been given." Before anyone could ask what those gifts were there was a small flash light, followed by a noise that could only be described as bamf and Nightcrawler disappeared in a cloud of foul smelling smoke. A spilt second later there was a second bamf and Nightcrawler was standing next to Al, who jumped back with a surprised yelp. "Such gifts do have their advantages do they not?" He cheerfully asked the still spooked Al.

"You…You just…" Al started.

"Teleported." Nighcrawler finished. "Any place I can see, I can be there in an instant.

"That was incredible." Winry said as she walked over to them. "You can do that just by thinking?" Nightcrawler nodded. "What's it like?"

"Would you like to see Miss Winry?" Nightcrawler asked. Winry was taken aback by the question.

"You can take other people with you?" Pinako asked. When Nightcrawler nodded again she frowned. "Is it dangerous?"

"I cannot take a person that much larger then me but she will not be a problem. I would not ask if I thought she would be in any danger." Nightcrawler assured her.

"I don't know." Winry said, unsure if she really wanted to say yes.

"Don't worry Petite. He's done this plenty of times and everyone come out ok." Gambit told her.

"Grandma?" She asked, still not knowing what to do. Pinako wasn't one who easily trusted strangers with the safety of her family, but again her instincts were telling here that she could trust these people. Nightcrawler seemed to be just as concerned about her granddaughter's safety as she was, and she believed him when he said he wouldn't try if he thought it would hurt her.

"If you want to try I'm not going to stop you." She finally said. Winry nervously looked over at Nightcrawler, who smiled reassuringly at her. Finally she looked over at Al.

"I think you should try it Winry. It looks like fun." He told her. Like Pinako after getting over the shock of what Kurt looked like he instinctively trusted him. Despite how everyone had acted when they first saw him Kurt was still very nice to all of them and seemed like a caring person, regardless of what other people thought of him.

Making up her mind Winry turned back to Nightcrawler.

"Where would we go?" She asked him.

"How about we give your short tempered friend out there a little surprise?" He asked her. He had heard everything that had gone on and, being the joker that he was, thought it would be fun to give Ed a little scare.

"I don't think Ed will like that." Al warned. Ed was a bit on edge already and this might cause him to loose his temper again.

"With the way he's been acting lately I think it will do him some good." Pinako said. Al's shoulders slumped forward with a loud rattle as Pinako decided to pull rank.

"So what do I do?" Winry asked now that everything was decided.

"Nothing." Nightcrawler said as took one last look around the corner to get an idea of where everyone was. "Just keep you eyes open, relax," He told her, putting his hands on her shoulders. She shuddered a bit but Nightcrawler didn't take offence. "And before you know it…" Both disappeared with a bamf and puff of smoke.

Bamf

"We are there." Nightcrawler finished as they popped back into existence next to Wolverine.

"GAAAA!" Ed shouted and stumbled back. Major Armstrong's eyes widened at the sight but when the X-Men didn't react he guessed that this was the Kurt they had just been talking about. It was still hard not to do anything.

Winry blinked once and suddenly she found herself standing next to Logan, with a very surprised Ed and Major Armstrong off to the side. She hadn't felt anything at all. One second they were on the side of the house and now they were in front of it.

"You just had to show off, didn't ya elf?" Wolverine asked. He sounded annoyed, but not quite angry at what Kurt had done. Winry was about to defend him when Kurt answered for himself.

"It is a weakness." Nightcrawler admitted with a smile. Wolverine shook his head but didn't say anything else.

"It can talk?!" Ed shouted, still not quite getting it. "What that hell is that thing?!?" Even though Ed was using same terms Winry had only a few minutes ago she was still furious that he was thinking that way.

"He is not a thing Ed!" She told sternly. "He's a person and he has a name!" Ed shrank back and to spare him any more of Winry's wrath Nightcrawler decided to introduce himself.

"Kurt Wagner, better known as The Incredible Nightcrawler, at your service sir." He said with a bow. Now Ed was really confused. This guy looked like a chimera reject but he was talking like a normal person. Things took another weird turn when he heard Al running up to them. Behind him were Pinako and the one called Gambit.

"What was it like Winry?" Al asked excitedly. "What did you see?"

"Will someone please tell me what the hell is going on?!?!" Ed demanded, fed up with being kept out of the loop.

"You'll want to sit down for this." Cyclops told them. "It'll take a while to explain."

"Well we have plenty of time." Pinako said as she started towards the house. "Please come in and make yourselves at home. I'm sure whatever you have to say will be quite the story."

As the X-Men were accepting the hospitality of the Rockbells Magneto was taking full advantage of hospitality offered to him by the State. Specifically he was headed down to the records room to retrieve the files Mustang had promised him. Accompanying him was a disgusted looking Lieutenant Hawkeye.

"You weren't required to come with me." She said as they entered the room, sounding just as disgusted as she looked.

"I wish to see just how much information the Colonel is willing to give us." Magneto replied, ignoring her tone of voice.

"You'll find that out _after_ you get the files." Hawkeye told him. "And his decision is final." She added. She turned to the clerk, a young brown-haired women with a nervous look on her face. Most likely the result of the strange man with the face hiding helmet.

"We..We prepared the files as per your order ma'am." The clerk said, pushing forward a small stack of folders. Hawkeye picked the folders up and began flipping through them. As she got to one in particular she stopped and began frowning. She looked back up at the clerk, who swallowed nervously.

"I think classified information was something Colonel Mustang would want _not_ to be seen by someone who hasn't been cleared." She told the clerk sternly.

"I'm sorry ma'am." The clerk said, looking away from the Lieutenant's stern gaze.

"Sorry won't help if you keep on making mistakes like this." Hawkeye said as she handed the folder back to the clerk, who glumly put it on her desk. After scanning the rest of the folders she nodded and handed them to Magneto. "If you want anything else you'll need the Colonel's approval." She told him, sounding like that was not likely to happen. "As for you," She said to the clerk, who came to attention with a start. "Make sure something like this doesn't happen again."

"Yes ma'am!" The clerk practically squeaked as she snapped the best salute she could.

"Carry on." Hawkeye replied, returning the salute. The clerk visibly relaxed when Hawkeye turned her attention back to Magneto "The Colonel should have gotten through to Central by now, so he'll want you to report to them on the X-men so the search can begin."

"I'll give him as much assistance as I can." Magneto replied are they left the room and headed towards the communication's center. Once they were gone and the door to the record's room shut the nervous look on the clerks face vanished and was replaced by a look of absolute smugness. Picking up the file Hawkeye had found she placed it within the folds of her own clothes, calmly left the room and locked the door behind her.

Several minutes later the same woman approached the room carrying a cup of coffee, from the _opposite_ direction she had just left. Unlocking the door and entering the room the first thing she noticed was that the files she had selected on Lieutenant Hawkeye's orders were gone but she paid it no mind. Only authorized personnel could get the key to this room and Hawkeye wasn't one who would let just anyone have that kind of authorization.

On one of the upper levels the second 'clerk' entered the library and after making sure no one had followed her, shut the door. Taking the folder Hawkeye had found, as well as several others, and after hiding them the 'clerk' began to change back to the blue skinned, red haired true form of Mystique. It had almost been too easy. Once the real clerk had gone on a break it had been simple to pick the locks to both the door and the file cabinets. After gathering everything that looked important she had signaled Magneto through the radio in his helmet and soon after he had 'suggested' that he accompany Lieutenant Hawkeye as she retrieved the files. After that all it took was acting the part of a simple clerk who almost made a huge mistake. Hawkeye would figure the clerk had learned her lesson and wouldn't need to talk to her about the subject again, and the clerk would just figure the files were taken by the right person when she wasn't looking. As long as she got the files back before they were missed no one would be the wiser.

As Mystique was reflecting on the ease of her assignment Magneto was on a three way call with Mustang to Central headquarters. He had given them descriptions of each of the X-Men and what their powers were, as well as his suggestion on what to do when they were found. Mustang backed him on the 'talk first' policy and Central said they would take it under consideration as it consulted other military leaders on its implement.

Unfortunately there was one man who was not keen on using a peaceful approach with the X-Men. Lt. Colonel Frank Archer was always preparing for the next war, and the appearance of these mutants was an opportunity he could not pass up. Though he appreciated the powers these mutants were said to wield they were also group outside of the State's, and therefore the military's, complete control. Policy never stayed intact very long and they could not depend on Magneto's forces to always be cooperative. However if he could get some of the mutants from the second group, the X-Men, to one of the labs who knew what kinds of things they could create. Knowing he had to act swiftly Archer waited until Mustang and his mutant friend finished their report before putting in a direct call to the Fuehrer himself.

The wheels of conflict had already been set in motion.


	5. Double Cross

Chapter 5: Double Cross

"Then we sent Wolverine to scout out the town. The rest you already know." Cyclops wasn't a scientist but he explained the situation as best he could to the Major who, despite his skepticism, couldn't argue with the proof in front of him. In addition to their powers the countries some claimed to have been born in didn't exist. Some they said existed across the ocean but others claimed their homelands were on this continent. The problem was the countries they described did not exist, and they never had. Then there was their technology, what little of it there was at least. Their radios were decades ahead of even the best of what the State was able to field.

"You certainly have the evidence to back up your incredible story." Armstrong responded. "Though I still find it hard to grasp that you're actually from... What did you call it? An alternate world I believe. We had no idea that the machine was capable of such a feat."

"Well guess what bub, it can." Wolverine said.

"And we'd like to ask for your government's help in getting us back the same way." Cyclops added, in a tone that told Wolverine to shut up. Wolverine was about to say something else when Armstrong, sensing the conflict brewing, spoke first.

"I don't see any reason why the State would deny you help. You don't seem to be a threat and since you were brought here against your will all efforts should be made to send you back. Unfortunately it will not work that way."

"So you're saying that we won't get any help?" Cyclops asked.

"Oh you will receive help…" Armstrong started.

"Yeah, after they're done with you." Ed remarked. All attention shifted to him. "Knowing them they're going to want you to use your powers to help them fight in exchange for a way home. Nothing like getting a bunch of new weapons to play with."

"Unfortunately Edward is correct." Armstrong admitted, frowning at Ed. "Though helping you should be a moral obligation…." Ed snickered at the thought of the State being 'moral'. "It will not be the case here. The opportunity to use powers like yours against our enemies will be too great for the State to pass on."

"We're not mercenaries." Cyclops told him. "We have no reason to get involved with your government's battles and we have no desire to either."

"I understand that." Armstrong responded. "However it's not my decision to make. I'll help as much as I can so I recommend that you talk to my commanding officer, Colonel Mustang, to find a better solution."

"I thought you said you wanted to help, Major." Al said. "You said that the State would make them fight…"

"And letting the bastard Colonel know would only put them on the front lines faster." Ed finished with a sneer. The X-men looked surprised at the way Ed talked about his superior. All except for Wolverine, who actually smirked. Armstrong didn't seem to notice, or just plain ignored, the disrespectful tone and responded to Ed's statement.

"The Colonel is quite capable of being a bit more level headed then some other high ranking members of the military. You should know that by now Ed." Ed turned away, grumbling. "He is currently in command of the facility that houses the Gate project. In essence this puts him in charge of the entire operation. Since your group's arrival is a result of the project that would put you under his jurisdiction." Cyclops was about to object but Wolverine beat him to it.

"I ain't part of anyone's 'jurisdiction' bub. So you can tell that idiot Colonel to forget about trying to draft me."

"You can tell him that for all of us." Storm seconded. The other X-Men quickly agreed.

"You have our answer on the subject." Cyclops told the Major. It wasn't the way he would have wanted their decision known but sometimes Wolverine's ability to be blunt was an asset.

"You misunderstand me." Armstrong stated, understanding their anger. "Since you are a result of the project that means it falls to the Colonel to decide what to do with you. If he thinks there might be a danger, either to you or the State, he might keep you in the lab for 'observation'. To ensure your own safety of course. Now if that observation just happens to last until the Gate is ready to send you back…." He shrugged his shoulders.

"Are you sure he'll agree to that?" Cyclops asked.

"I can't make any guarantees but the Colonel is a reasonable man. I doubt he'll allow you to be conscripted. As you said you have no reason to get involved in our affairs and we have no real right to make you. There will be those who try but Colonel Mustang is not one of them. Despite what Edward might think…" He looked towards the person in question, who just folded his arms and sneered. "He is a fair man." Cyclops considered it while the other X-Men exchanged glances.

"So what do you think boss man?" Wolverine finally asked. He personally thought the offer was a bit fishy but it was in his nature to be paranoid.

"The fewer people who see us the better." Cyclops agreed. "As long as you can keep us out of the public eye and away from your recruiters I don't think there will be any problems. If word got out there were people like us around it could cause a panic."

"I am well aware of that, and we'll do our best to prevent it." Armstrong replied. "I trust that your teammates are in agreement with you." The other X-Men did voice their agreement, though with Wolverine it was an indifferent shrug. "Very well. I need to go into town to get a secure line to the lab but I should have an answer for you soon." He said as he stood up. "In the meantime I suggest you not leave this house, and to stay out of trouble." He made a point to look at Ed then Wolverine, both of whom glared at the other. Satisfied that he had made his point the Major grabbed his coat and left the house.

While Major Armstrong had promised the X-Men one type of response from the State another was already on the phone trying the opposite type.

"So you understand how it can be to our advantage to use an aggressive stance when dealing with this second group of mutants." Archer said into the phone. "Magneto himself confirmed that the since he's allied himself with the State it will cause them to become hostile. Who knows what kind of actions they would take against the military, or even civilians, when they find out."

"So you believe that they will become violent?" The calm voice of the Fuehrer asked.

"I believe there is a strong possibility of it sir." Archer replied. "And that brings up another unpleasant situation. Right now if those mutants become hostile we have Magneto and his own mutants to deal with them. But what if Magneto and his group decides to turn on us, or more mutants arrive from where they came from? I have all confidence in our alchemists but if the varying powers of Magneto's group is any indication we are woefully unprepared to fight them."

"Then you're talking about recruiting some mutants of our own?" The Fuehrer asked.

"I was thinking more along the lines of creating our own division of mutants." Archer responded.

"An interesting idea." The Fuehrer said, knowing just what Archer meant. "Quite a unique opportunity." He added thoughtfully. "Very well. Mustang will be in command of first contact with these 'X-Men' provided they are not a threat. Should their actions prove otherwise you shall use whatever means necessary to contain that threat. In the name of State security you are ordered to bring them in alive so that we may interrogate and learn just what kind of threat we are facing."

"Don't worry sir. I'll be ready if force is going to be needed." Archer answered before hanging up. Both knew that it wasn't 'if' force was going to be used but 'when'. Now that approval had been given he began to mobilize as many units as possible for when that moment came.

Back at the Gate lab Mustang and Magneto were in the Colonel's hastily made office, going over how and where to conduct their search for the X-Men.

"If Dr. Thomas' estimates are correct the second energy bolt was headed in this direction." Mustang said, tracing a line along a map that had been laid out. "Unfortunately we don't know how far that bolt was capable of traveling, and for all we know it hasn't stopped yet. In addition, if your transit was any indication they could have appeared anywhere along this area. I've given orders for any units along this route to keep an eye out for anything suspicious but so far we've received nothing solid."

"You probably won't unless they want to make contact." Magneto replied. "There are plenty of places for them to hide that would be difficult for even your army to search thoroughly." He pointed to several swampy and wooded areas.

"That's why…." Mustang was cut off as the door to the office opened and Hughes came rushing in.

"Sorry to interrupt but we just got a call from Reesembol that you should take a look at." He said, holding out a folded piece of paper. Knowing that Hughes wouldn't interrupt unless it was important Mustang said nothing and took the paper. He unfolded it and read it in silence, his face not changing expression. When he finished he looked back up at Hughes.

"How many people know about this?" He asked, his voice betraying nothing.

"Just you, me and the operator that took the call." Hughes answered.

"Something wrong Colonel? Magneto asked.

"Only if you consider a coincidence like this suspicious." Mustang answered and handed Magneto the dispatch. It was a short message but said quite a bit.

_Request from Major Alex Armstrong to speak to Col. Roy Mustang regarding possible new results of failure._

It would be confusing to anyone who did not know about the Gate project. However for people in the know, like the three gathered, it was fairly easy to figure out.

"It appears your Major Armstrong has saved us quite a bit of time and effort." Magneto commented.

"I guess we can't look a gift horse in the mouth." Mustang answered. "I'll take the call in private." He told Hughes. "And this time I don't want _any_one eavesdropping." He added.

"I have no idea what you could mean Colonel." Hughes replied. Knowing that Hughes got the message Mustang turned toward Magneto.

"I think it would be best if they didn't know of your presence yet. We'll bring them here and you can work out your own arrangements."

"I am hoping that things will go smoothly Colonel but I believe we should approach this with a great deal of caution. I would like several of my own men to accompany whoever you send, in case things do not go according to plan."

"Their presence will only aggravate the situation." Mustang countered.

"I am only suggesting that they be kept in reserve, out of sight, until we have a stable situation. Until then they will give you no interference." Mustang considered it for several seconds.

"All right. If this turns out to be the X-Men I'll permit some of your men to go. I'll also be assigning Lt. Colonel Hughes to go as well so they will be under his command. I'd go myself but things are still too chaotic for me to leave just yet." As much as he trusted his subordinates he wasn't about to allow someone like Magneto to remain here unchecked.

"That is your decision to make." Magneto stated, not giving any hint of approval or disapproval. Seeing that the conversation was over Mustang left the room and headed down towards the communications room without another word.

It turned out to be good news. Major Armstrong had indeed found the X-Men and they had no interest in causing trouble. They were unwilling to fight for the State but Magneto had predicted that much. Armstrong made his suggestion on what was to be done with the group and Mustang found nothing wrong with it. It would be best to keep all the mutants in one area until the Gate could be reactivated. There might be tension between the two groups but they would have to deal with that later. Giving his go ahead to Armstrong Mustang then put in a call to Central to let them know what was going on, and what was going to be done. It was standard procedure but it was the wrong thing to do. No sooner had the phone from Mustang's call been set down then another went out to Lt. Colonel Archer, who wasted no time putting his own plan into action.

When Mustang got back to his office he found Magneto and Hughes waiting for him.

"We found them." He said as he sat down at his desk. "They have no intention of fighting and just want a way back home. Hughes, you'll head to Reesembol as an official envoy of the State. With Major Armstrong you'll escort them back here, as quietly as you can."

"No problem Roy." Hughes answered. "I'll be interesting to meet some mutants that aren't trying to kill me." Neither the Colonel or Magneto even smiled at the joke. Not that you would be able to tell with Magneto's helmet anyway. Turning from his second in command to the mutant leader Mustang continued.

"Your men will no longer be needed to confront the X-Men but they will still accompany the Lt. Colonel. Their job will be to provide protection against any threats Lt. Colonel Hughes may encounter on his way to Reesembol. They will stay in the shadows and away from the X-Men once contact is made. They will then guard everyone on their way back to the lab. We want as few problems as possible while brining them back here."

"If I may ask Colonel why would you need my men for body guards? The X-Men are more then capable of protecting themselves and though your own man was no match for us he seems well prepared to deal with any normal humans." Hughes gave Magneto a funny look, not knowing whether to take that as a compliment or an insult.

"There are enemies of the State, powerful enemies, that would go to great lengths to get people like the X-Men under their sway. We can't risk sending a large number of military personnel with Hughes to provide escort there and back. Your men provide the greatest amount of protection with the fewest numbers needed. As for the X-Men, I'm sure they can defend themselves but in the interest of maintaining stability it would be better to have some mutants in service of the State with them. That way it will appear that the government has control of this situation and keep panic to a minimum." Mustang explained.

"And if necessary, lie and say all mutants are in the service to the State. So long as you can maintain the illusion of control." Magneto commented. Allies they might be Magneto would never allow Mustang, or anyone else, to control him or the Brotherhood. He also knew the X-Men would be the same way. "I see no problem with your plan Colonel and you have my permission to use some of my men." Mustang frowned at Magneto's choice of words. He had just reminded Mustang that he wasn't in complete control of the situation here, and like any military man that did not sit well with him. Still, the State had made an agreement and since Magneto hadn't broken it yet Mustang had to go along with it. That didn't mean he was going to allow Magneto to get away with whatever he wanted.

"You can choose only three to go with Lt. Colonel Hughes. Any more and they risk the chance of being discovered, and that could be interpreted by the X-Men as an act of aggression. I can't allow the consequences of something like that to happen. You may have the final say on _who_ will go but I still have the final say on _if_ they can go." Mustang stated. The two looked like they were staring each other down, neither moving or breaking eye contact. Well, eye to helmet contact.

"Three should be sufficient for what you are suggesting." Magneto finally stated.

"Brief them on the situation then have them report to Lt. Colonel Hughes immediately, he'll be in command. The next train to Reesembol leaves in about half an hour so your men will need to get ready quickly." Magneto didn't say anything but Mustang could almost feel the glare from the other man. Finally Magneto gave a very slight nod, turned and left the room. Once he was sure he was out of earshot Hughes let out a sigh of relief.

"So how badly do you think he took that?" He asked Mustang.

"Very." Mustang answered as he sat back down at his desk. "Someone like him is used to giving orders, not getting them. We might have a formal alliance with them but he's the kind of person that isn't about to let anything stop his ambitions. Keep a close eye on whoever he sends with you, I have a feeling you're going to have your hands full."

"Just leave it to me." Hughes replied.

As Mustang and Hughes were finalizing the trip to Reesembol Major Armstrong returned to the Rockbell's and found that things had not turned out as bad as he thought they would. He half expected to find Ed and Wolverine trying to kill each other but saw that the two were sufficiently separated. Wolverine was leaning against a wall listening to the conversation Pinako was having with Storm and Cyclops. Ed, meanwhile, was seated at a second table between Winry and Al, speaking with Gambit and Nightcrawler. The last X-Man, Colossus, was standing off to the side of the second table. The conversations stopped and they all looked over at him.

"Things went very well. The Colonel has agreed to put you under protection of the State until the Gate is able to send you back. A train will be here in about two hours along with an escort to take us to the lab. Ed, Al, that includes the two of you."

"We're grateful that you're going out of your way to help us." Cyclops said.

"But there's something Gambit still doesn't understand." Gambit said without turning around. "You a solider, and according to Petite a very loyal one." He said, motioning towards Winry. "Why stick your neck out for who you've never seen before? For all you know we could be the bad guys. For all we know, you be the bad guys." It was a thought that had crossed both the X-Men and Armstrong's mind.

"In my time working with the Elric Brothers and the Rockbells I've learned that the military mindset has to be flexible from time to time. Though I am not one to take things at face value I consider myself a good judge of character. You've been forthcoming with all the information you've been giving us and have shown willingness to trust the State despite your own reservations. With some exceptions…" He glanced over at Wolverine, who just gave him a 'who cares' shrug. "You've shown you're professionals, not some gang of delinquents with odd powers."

"Glad you think that way Major." Pinako said. "Because we were just talking about the rest of them giving a demonstration of their powers."

"Most of us." Cyclops clarified. "It's not exactly a good idea for me to use my powers indoors."

"But the rest of us decide to show off for notre ami militaire." Gambit said. "Gambit will go first." Reaching into his coat he brought out a box of playing cards, removed one from the deck, and held it between two fingers. "First we charge the card." The card began hum and buzz with energy, taking on a reddish glow. "And then….." He casually threw the card over his shoulder, where it exploded with an impressive but harmless blast. He had of course been showing off and expected the three seated across from him to be impressed and maybe amazed but only Winry had that look. Ed, and even Al with his emotionless face, were staring at him in shock. "Something the matter?" He asked. He honestly couldn't think of anything about the display that would upset them.

"Not you specifically." Armstrong answered. Gambit turned around to look. "It's just that your power is very similar to a former State Alchemist named Kimbley. He is a lunatic of the first degree whose specialized alchemy is used to make things explode, including people."

"Charming." Gambit commented. "Well I'm no lunatic and I don't make people explode. Not my style." There was an uncomfortable silence for several seconds. Gambit had been compared to many things before but a sadistic murderer wasn't one of them. And though the others knew that this man was nothing like Kimbley they couldn't help but concentrate on the similarities.

"Perhaps I should go next, yes?" Colossus asked, breaking the tension. Without waiting for an answer he began. This time there were looks of amazement all around as he grew slightly, his skin changing from flesh to some sort of gray metal. His eyes and even his hair underwent the same transformation and they found themselves looking at a man completely made out of metal. "It is very impressive is it not?" He asked, seeing the looks on their faces.

"You can change into metal and back whenever you want?" Ed asked. It almost looked like he had preformed a normal transmutation but with his skin, not clothes. There was also a vague similarity between Colossus and his brother, and looking over at Al Ed could tell he was thinking the same thing. Not wanting Al to concentrate on the fact that there was someone who could turn from literally living metal back to normal at will Ed decided to distract him from it. "I bet you don't have to be oiled like Al does either. Sometimes I think there's a mouse following us." Wolverine already knew the truth and they'd probably have to tell the others sooner or later so he wasn't worried about them asking questions. Al had the reaction Ed had expected and seemed to forget about Colossus for the moment.

"I do _not_…!!!" Al started as he turned his head to face his brother. Unfortunately the quick movement caused a quiet but still audible squeak from where his head was attached to the rest of his body. "squeak." He finished with a whisper. His head seemed to sink down into his body and his eyes dimmed slightly in embarrassment. Even though he couldn't blush the others were practically able to hear him turning red, and laughed good-naturedly at the sibling interaction.

"That seems to be a sensitive subject for your brother." The final X-Man, X-Woman actually, Storm said in Al's defense. Like the other X-Men, sans Wolverine who knew the truth, she had a feeling Al wasn't exactly normal. She didn't think Ed was being mean but it was her nature not to stand by when people seemed to be hurting others. Ed didn't answer right away, in fact he looked slightly flustered and red in the face. Most young men around Ed's age usually got that way when they realized that someone who looked like Storm was actually talking to _them._ Storm smiled in understanding, which turned him a brighter shade of red. Winry was glaring at Ed now, not a good sign "Ed?" Storm prompted. That seemed to snap Ed out of it and after realizing what he was doing got back on track but turned redder in the process.

"Aw we do this kind of stuff all the time. Right Al?" He said and slapped Al on the back lightly, careful not to make it echo.

"Humph!" Al said as he folded his arms and turned away from his brother.

"See? Nothing wrong." He said as he turned back to Storm, who smiled at the fact Al gave the impression that he was pouting. This did indeed seem to be normal interaction between the brothers. Not wanting himself to get flustered again Ed decided to ask a question of his own. "All the fog from before, was that because of you?" A fogbank just appearing like that wasn't natural and since the other X-men had already displayed their powers it was only logical to think it was her. Okay Cyclops hadn't done anything yet but what was so dangerous about having fog inside a house?

"Yes it was." Storm answered. "However what I'm able to do is not limited to only fog." She added.

"You can do more?" Ed asked. Storm nodded. "Like what?" Instead of answering Storm held up her hand and her eyes again became solid white. Ed couldn't figure out what she was doing and was about to ask her when he felt something cold and wet fall on his head. Before he could even say anything white flakes began to fall in front of his eyes. Holding out his flesh hand Ed caught a few of them and found that he wasn't hallucinating. It really was snow! Looking up he saw a small dark cloud right above him, dropping a light snowfall on his head!!

"Things like that." Storm said with a smile. Her eyes turned back to normal and the miniature snowstorm above Ed's head disappeared, leaving him with a light dusting of snow on his head and shoulders, and at a loss for words. All of the X-Men's powers, even Wolverine's, normally could have been explained away as a result of alchemy or being a chimera. But Storm, she literally had nature at her command. No alchemist, chimera or even homunculus could come close to that. While Ed, Al, Winry and Pinako seemed overwhelmed at this fact Al was the first to recover, and use it to his advantage.

"You did need to cool down a bit brother." He commented. There was a snort of laughter from Wolverine and next to Ed Winry was smirking. The red started coming back to Ed's face and he glared at his brother.

"Well now that introductions are finished." Armstrong said before things got any worse. "I believe explanations are in order. You are strangers to our world and should know as much as you can about it. That way you should be able to handle yourselves should you leave the protection of the State." There was a disapproving grunt from Wolverine.

"We can handle ourselves just fine bub." He growled.

"Perhaps." Armstrong admitted. "But it would be wise for you to know how things work so you won't have to."

"That include him?" Wolverine asked, nodding towards Al. Armstrong looked over at Al, who was looking at Wolverine nervously.

"He already knows." Al said as he slowly looked at Armstrong. "I guess we should tell him why."

"You sure Al?" Ed asked. "We don't have to tell them if you don't want us to." He said, glaring at Wolverine.

"I'm not gonna force you to say anything kid." Wolverine told Ed. "But I know your brother wasn't born that way. I don't like the idea of anyone experimenting on kids either and so far…." He looked over at Armstrong. "..that's what it looks like." He finished. Armstrong quickly turned red with anger.

"Wolverine!" Cyclops warned but the damage had already been done.

"How dare you accuse the State of such a heinous crime!!!" Armstrong shouted.

"If the jackboot fits pal." Wolverine shot back. He knew full well how far governments would go and how nothing was off limits to them. If Al had ended up this way because of the military he wouldn't be surprised.

"The military didn't do this to Al!" Ed shouted as he stood up, stopping what was quickly turning into a fight. "I did." He added quietly. Everything became dead silent and the X-Men, even Wolverine, were looking at Ed in disbelief.

"We both had a hand in it brother." Al said as he put a hand on Ed's shoulder. It did little to comfort him though. "We're going to have to tell them."

"Yeah, I know." Ed said in a calm but depressed sounding voice. "It really starts with the laws of alchemy." He said as he sat down.

A couple of hours later a train began nearing the station at Reesembol. One car near the front was empty except for three people, with its shades pulled down and doors locked. Inside rode Lt. Colonel Hughes and two of the three mutants that had been selected to come with him. Pyro had more or less been quiet during the trip but the same could not be said for his companion. Hughes couldn't prove it but he was sure Magneto had chosen Sabertooth for this assignment just to put him on edge. As much as he hated to admit it so far it was working. The mutant was now pacing up and down the length of the car like a caged attack animal eager to get loose. An initial concern Hughes had with Sabertooth coming was just this, that he'd get too eager to fight and go berserk. The memory of what he had done to those soldiers, as well as the fact he still 'owed him one', made Hughes very concerned for his own safety and anyone else's who Sabertooth might be around. That had led to the selection of the third member from Magneto's team.

Hughes shook his head at the thought. Magneto had stated that the third man was the only one truly capable of controlling Sabertooth other then himself. It had been the final member that had come from Magneto's home world, the one that he had kept hidden from Mustang and the others. They had only needed one look at him to find out why. Hughes thought that while he did look more then capable of controlling Sabertooth he could be even _**more**_ dangerous then the feral mutant. He didn't have a chance to discuss it with Roy but Hughes was sure he thought the same thing. He was currently in the freight section of the train since there was no way he'd be able to blend in. Aside from their funny clothes Pyro and, at a stretch, even Sabertooth could pass for normal but not this guy.

The train whistle broke into his thoughts and he realized that they were almost there.

"Okay, let's go over this one more time." Hughes told the other two. Pyro groaned.

"We've been over it a hundred times already." He complained.

"Then this'll make a hundred and one." Hughes replied sternly. Pyro rolled his eyes and Sabertooth actually snarled at him in response. Hughes tried to keep his face neutral and faced the newly named Feral Alchemist. "I'm still the ranking officer here and until your boss says otherwise you follow my orders." Hughes might have sounded brave but he knew that this guy could disembowel him just because he wanted to. Thankfully Sabertooth backed down and Hughes was able to continue. "There'll be two trucks, one to carry the X-Men, one to carry you guys. I'll ride out to meet them while your truck stays out of sight. Once we get back to the train they'll take this car while the two of you will go to the alternate. If we do this right we can be back here in ten minutes and no one will notice a thing." He opened the door to the car and nearly fell over. There were soldiers everywhere, all of them armed and ready to fight. Stepping off the train Hughes looked down the track and saw more soldiers jumping into trucks that began to drive off.

"I think people are going to notice something mate." Pyro commented as he and Sabertooth stepped off the train. Hughes was about to say something when a new voice greeted them.

"Lt. Colonel Hughes I presume?" Hughes turned around and saw a man with dark black hair and cold brown eyes. "Colonel Jacobs, 801st. We've been expecting you for a while now." Hughes gave the Colonel a salute and once Jacobs had returned it started talking.

"This might sound a bit out of line Colonel but what are all these men doing here? Colonel Mustang's orders were…."

"Mustang isn't in charge anymore Hughes." Jacobs interrupted. "Orders came straight from Central. The group of alchemists known as the X-Men have been declared enemies of the State, to be detained by any means necessary."

"There's got to be some kind of mistake." Hughes said. "We weren't supposed to engage them unless necessary."

"Looks like that's no longer the case." Jacobs said simply. Hughes frowned and narrowed his eyes. He was either being lied to or things had gone very wrong. There was one way to confirm which it was.

"Let me speak to Major Armstrong immediately. I'll need his full report on exactly what happened."

"The Major is already engaging the enemy as we speak." Jacobs replied. "We're on our way to assist him now."

(Bullshit.) Hughes thought to himself. If Armstrong wanted help he would have contacted Mustang as well as Central. Even then he wouldn't request a full-scale invasion of the Elric's hometown.

Something was wrong here. Even if the orders were changed there had to be a reason for it. One was that the X-Men had become aggressive but the fact that these troops weren't hurrying, and he couldn't hear the sounds of a battle, told him that wasn't the case. That really left only one other option. Someone had gone over all their heads and convinced Central the X-Men were worth more as prisoners then guests. That also meant Mustang had no clue about what was going on and needed to be told right away.

"All right then. It looks like you have things well in hand already so I'll just report back to the Colonel and…."

"Sorry but standing orders from Central state no communications are to go in or out of this town until the successful completion of this operation. I'm sure that Colonel Mustang has already been brought up to speed on the situation." Jacobs said.

"But he's also sure to want constant updates on how things are progressing." Hughes said, thinking quickly. "You know how commanding officers can get." He told the now frowning Jacobs. "So if you'll just point me in the direction of your nearest phone… HRRK!!!" He didn't finish as a large hand grabbed the back of his neck. The last thing Hughes saw was the side of the train rushing towards him and the last thing he heard was the thud of his head hitting it.

Sabertooth threw the now bleeding Hughes to the ground like a bag of trash and looked over at Colonel Jacobs.

"Clumsy bastard should learn not to trip over his own feet." He sneered. Jacobs looked from the downed Hughes back up to Sabertooth.

"He's not dead is he?" He asked, not sounding at all interested in Hughes' well being.

"If the boss didn't want me to play nice he would be." Sabertooth growled. Jacobs nodded and turned to the side.

"Well that's one less problem anyway. Get a stretcher over here!" He shouted. Two medics quickly responded and came running over. "Make sure he's okay and if he starts to wake up before we're finished here, sedate him." The medics saluted, placed the unconscious Hughes on the stretcher and carried him away. "I take it you're some of those new alchemists we were told about?"

"That's us mate." Pyro replied. "Looks like you're going to need someone to bash some heads in." He said as he watched another truckload of soldiers drive off. "Me and me pals here, just happen to specialize in that." Next to him Sabertooth pounded a fist into his open hand and bared his teeth in a nasty smile.

"We were counting on that." Jacobs replied. "We don't expect them to come quietly and Central figured to use alchemists that have experience handling them. Once the fighting starts you've got one order. Central wants them alive; as long as you keep them breathing feel free to do anything you have to."

"Buddy, you just made our day." Sabertooth said, cracking his knuckles.


	6. Head on Collision

Chapter 6: Head on Collision

Ten minutes after the arrival of the train the last of the trucks pulled out for the station and headed towards the Rockbell's house. Jacobs had managed to secure transport for the new alchemists and had radioed the troops to expect them but that didn't diminish the feeling of anxiety of the soldiers who had actually _seen_ them.

"Man did you get a look at those guys?" A Corporal asked the others who were riding in the back of the truck with him. "I've seen alchemists before but nothing like this"

"At least the little guy looked normal, except for that idiotic uniform." A second soldier added. "That one with the long hair on the other hand, he didn't even look human. More like some kind of chimera that went wrong."

"Yeah but being a chimera would be able to explain it though." A third said. "That other guy…"

"No way he can be human." The Corporal said. "And he didn't look like a chimera either."

"Well you know what I think…" A fourth soldier said. Before he could continue a chorus of groans came up from the others.

"Oh come on Adams!" The second solider said.

"Not the Division Six theory again." The Corporal groaned.

"Well how could it not be?!?" Adams demanded to know. "This is just like something Division Six would…."

"No it's not something Division Six would do... because Division Six isn't real!" The Corporal said. "Damn it Adams I thought you were smarter then this!!!"

"Hey it is real!!!" Adams protested.

"And how do you know that?" The Corporal asked. "Because of the rumors, because of what you've heard?" Adams was about to say something but the Corporal cut him off. "You need to stop buying into these conspiracy theories and concentrate on things that actually exist. Like these alchemists we're going after. If we need guys like that to help us you can bet that they're going to be dangerous, so just keep your focus on a _real_ danger to our health and well being for a change." Adams began to sulk as the other soldiers started laughing at him.

Back at the Rockbell's the mood was a bit more pleasant then in the convoy heading towards it. Ed and Al had explained as much as they dare about their past. Of how the death of their mother lead them to attempt a forbidden resurrection, which had caused the loss of Ed's limbs and Al's body. They told them about their quest to find the philosophers stone, which could restore both of them. They could see the disapproval of what they had done in they eyes of the X-Men, Nightcrawler especially. But they didn't judge or press them for more information, and they were both grateful for that.

After that things became a bit lighter. Ed gave the X-Men a demonstration of alchemy by turning a couple of Gambit's cards to solid glass. To Ed's disappointment they were under whelmed at the display but they told him it was due to the fact that there were many mutants where they came from with similar abilities.

Right now the two sides were exchanging stories about their past battles, where they had come from, even their likes and dislikes. Despite the oddness of the situation they were all acting like friends catching up. Gambit had allowed Winry to examine his Bo, with the provision she not try to take it apart, and was currently teaching Ed and Al card cheating techniques that made what Ed used look like parlor tricks.

"Why did you choose cards for weapons?" Al asked as Gambit was shuffling a new deck. "Can't you do that with anything?" He had already admitted that his powers, like Kimbley's alchemy, could make anything blow up.

"Cards be the easiest thing to carry and hide." Gambit answered, making a card suddenly 'appear' between two of his fingers. He flicked the card at Al, who caught it in midair. "They never see it coming either." He added with a small grin. The card in Al's hand disappeared with a soft bang and a puff of smoke. Even though it wouldn't have hurt him if his hand had been flesh Al still jumped slightly when the card went off.

"It certainly does make a handy sneak attack." Ed remarked with a grin of his own. It was good to see someone other then him taking lumps today. Al started glaring at his brother but before he could say anything Wolverine spoke up.

"Anyone else hear that?" He asked. All conversation stopped and the others listened. Soon enough they heard what Wolverine had. Engines, lots of them, headed their way. Some of them sounded like they were here already! They looked over at the now frowning Armstrong, who had clearly not been expecting this. Without another word everyone jumped up and headed for the door, except for Nightcrawler who took the short route and teleported out. They found him out there staring at their new guests. Several trucks pulled up to the Rockbell's house and began offloading soldiers. There were several other trucks with even more soldiers forming a perimeter.

"Back to the woods." Cyclops ordered.

"Too late for that boss man." Wolverine said. Cyclops turned around and saw a second perimeter of trucks and soldiers, with even more coming their way. They were completely surrounded. "I must be getting old." Wolverine growled, mostly to himself. He should have heard these guys coming but didn't. He really couldn't have though. His hearing wasn't as good as Daredevil's and whoever was in charge was smart enough to have most of the trucks stop far enough away so most people wouldn't notice. He also should have expected baldy to double cross them but he was stupid and decided to trust him. As he was kicking himself about trusting Armstrong he was surprised to see that the Major himself was red with anger and growling as well. Looks like he had been double crossed to but that really didn't make Wolverine feel any better.

As they were trying to think of their next move someone got out of one of the lead trucks on the edge of the perimeter. From the looks of his uniform he was someone important, and the way he was looking at them said that things were about to get ugly.

"X-Men." He addressed the group when he was within speaking distance. "I am Colonel Jacobs, commander of the 801st Infantry. You are herby ordered to surrender yourselves to our custody and accompany us to Central. Major Armstrong, we'll take it from here." Armstrong started to salute out of reflex but he hesitated to finish it.

"Sir if I may inquire why did Colonel Mustang see fit to send all these men? I was under the impression that this would be a quiet operation."

"Colonel Mustang isn't in charge of this operation anymore." Jacobs answered. "It was decided that decisive action was needed in dealing with this threat and that he might not be up to the task." Armstrong frowned, knowing that what he had just been told was a flat out lie.

"But they're not a threat." Al spoke up. "They're friendly." Jacobs glared at Al for speaking out of turn.

"We'll let Central decided that." He told Al coldly. "In the meantime you three get the civilians back and let us do our job." Wolverine growled and clenched his fists, a move that was uncannily mimicked by Ed.

"Oh we're not going anywhere Colonel." Pinako said as she stepped into view, accompanied by Winry. "These are my guests and I'm not going to a rude host by allowing them to keep company with people like you." Jacobs focused his glare on Pinako, who steadfastly glared right back.

"Everything has already been arranged." Jacobs told Armstrong, deciding to ignore Pinako. "Lt. Colonel Hughes has already signed off on the orders and has agreed to step aside and let us do our work. He didn't like it but he did." The look on Armstrong's face said he was far from convinced. "Tell you what. I'll give you five minutes to talk to Hughes and then talk them into surrendering." He pointed to a truck about twenty yards outside the perimeter. Armstrong looked from Jacobs over to the truck. "Just don't expect him to be too cheerful."

"I can see how having his command taken over by someone like you can do that." Armstrong said tersely. Jacobs narrowed his eyes and was about to lecture Armstrong on his behavior as an officer when the Major stepped past him without saying a word. Deciding that he couldn't let insubordination like this stand Jacobs turned his attention to Ed and Al.

"In the meantime all military personal are to be on or outside the established perimeter. We don't want anyone to get jumpy now do we?"

"Like being surrounded by a bunch of guys with rifles wouldn't make people jumpy." Ed mumbled to himself.

"You'd better do as he says Ed." Cyclops told him. Ed and Al looked at him with a 'you're joking' expression. "We can handle ourselves if things get bad, and I don't want you two getting in trouble on account of us. You and your granddaughter had better go to Miss Rockbell, we can't risk you getting hurt."

"I said I'm not going anywhere and I'm not." Pinako said without turning to face Cyclops.

"I'm not either." Winry stated, which caught Cyclops by surprise. He was even more surprised when Pinako didn't do anything to contradict it. He was about to say something when Wolverine spoke up.

"Don't bother Cyke. If she's anything like granny you're going to have to drag them both out of here kicking and screaming." Cyclops shook his head, knowing it was useless to argue.

"You two better go on ahead then." He told Ed and Al. "We'll look after them."

"We are quite capable of looking after ourselves young man." Pinako almost scolded. Ed and Wolverine chuckled at Cyclops' reaction.

"There's just no arguing with Aunt Pinako." Ed told them. "Come on Al. I've got a few questions I want to ask Hughes myself." Al seemed hesitant about what his brother had just suggested.

"But what if…?" He started.

"Don't worry about it, they'll be all right." Ed assured his brother. He dropped his voice to a whisper before continuing. "We can help them more if we're able to take those guys by surprise." He added giving a slight glance at the soldiers surrounding them. After looking around Al nodded his agreement and the two of them started walking towards the perimeter. Unfortunately Jacobs had a surprise of his own to show everyone. He waited until the two were about five steps past the perimeter before…

"TAKE AIM!!!!" He shouted. The soldiers obeyed and leveled their weapons at the X-Men, and the Rockbells.

"HEY!!" Ed and Al shouted and were about to rush back to the line when blast of fire blocked their paths.

"What the..!?!" Ed started.

"Sorry lads but we can't have you messing things up now can we?" An oddly accented voice asked. The boys turned and saw the source of the fire wall was a man dressed in a stupid looking red and yellow outfit.

"What is the meaning of this!?!?" Armstrong's voice boomed as he came running back up. He had been about halfway to the indicated truck when Jacobs had given his command and by the time he had turned back the oddly dressed man had come within inches of burning Ed alive.

"Don't worry chrome dome, the two of them 'ell be fine." The man said as flames stopped shooting from his arm. "They just stay put like good little boys and we'll have no problems at all."

While the Elrics and Armstrong were, to say the least, a bit surprised at this newcomer the X-men had a much different reaction.

"How come I'm not surprised?" Wolverine growled

"If he's here that means we're already too late." Cyclops said. "We'll work our way back to the woods, the way we came. Storm, give us some cover." Storm nodded and her eyes began to turn white as there was a subtle pick up in the wind.

"What's going on?" Winry asked. "Who is that?" Before anyone could answer it hit her. "He's with Magneto, isn't he?" One of the things that Cyclops and Storm had gone over with Armstrong was the second band of mutants that had come through with them. They were dangerous and the military might have to be called in to help find and capture them. The boys hadn't been paying attention, or just didn't care, and Winry was too distracted examining Gambit's Bo to catch anything more then snippets of the names and what their powers were. The only thing she knew for sure was the name of their leader, Magneto.

"That's right Petite." Gambit answered. "Looks like de rest of de army isn't as nice as your big friend is."

Armstrong, meanwhile, had figured out just who it was that created the wall of flame and tried to warn Jacobs.

"Colonel that man is…." Was as far as he got before Jacobs cut him off.

"I am well aware of who that man is." He replied. "He's the one who is helping us apprehend these enemies of the state. I suggest you and Full Metal do the same."

"And what have they done to label themselves enemies of the State?!" Armstrong demanded. "If you have no orders from Colonel Mustang…."

"I'm in command here now 'Major'!" Jacobs said. "Now you either help or I won't be able to guarantee the safety of those alchemists. Or your civilian friends, for that matter." He warned.

"You would dare open fire on innocent civilians?!?" Armstrong demanded.

"If that is what I must do to protect the security of the State yes I would!" Jacobs snapped back. "And I wouldn't try defend them if I were you. By protecting enemies of the State they are implicating themselves are traitors!!"

As the others listened to the argument they could see that things were quickly deteriorating. It also looked like the Rockbells would be caught in the middle no matter what. Knowing that protecting them was paramount once the shooting started Gambit moved to put himself between them and the soldiers.

"I think you going to be needing this more then I will Petite." He said as he brushed past Winry. She didn't know what he was talking about and was about to ask him when she felt an odd weight in her pocket. Putting her hand in to see what it was she recognized the feel of Gambit's collapsed Bo staff. She didn't know what was more incredible, that Gambit was trusting her with his fantastic weapon, or that he had managed to slip it into her pocket and she didn't notice it.

Outside the perimeter Armstrong continued to argue with Jacobs when the shit really hit the fan as he tired to defend the Rockbells.

"They are not….!!!"

"NO!!!!" Armstrong stopped midsentence and along with Jacobs turned to the source of the shout. What they saw was Ed tackling a large, animalistic looking man who was aiming a rifle at the X-men from behind one of the trucks. The man didn't go down but the impact did jostle his rifle as it went off. There was a cry of pain from the second group and everyone looked to see Storm fall to the ground clutching her bleeding shoulder. Attention quickly went back to the man who fired the shot, as he grabbed Ed by his jacket and threw him to the ground.

"You stupid kid!!" Sabertooth shouted and pointed his rife at Ed one handed.

He had been so close!! These military goons had been smart enough to listen when Pyro had said that the three of them needed to be downwind to avoid detection from Wolverine. Pyro had more or less blown their cover but they still didn't notice him so he had been free to act when he smelled a weird change in the air. That meant that their little weather girl was up to something so he decided to 'forget' about the no kill order and grabbed a rifle from one of the troops. He was about to blow her head off when some runt in a red jacket spoiled his aim and he only managed to hit her in the shoulder. Now they'd have to fight, which was fine by him, but thanks to the brat he'd missed his best shot to off one of them.

With the X-Men it seemed that one second things were at a standstill then the next everything was happening at once. Their eyes were on the two arguing officers so they didn't notice a familiar face taking aim at them from behind a truck. They saw Ed take off in a sprint but before they could figure out why there was a single gunshot and Storm fell to the ground, her shoulder now bleeding. Looking the direction the shot had come from they saw the shooter struggling with Ed.

"Sabertooth!!" Wolverine growled. While he was focused on the cause of Storm's injury Pinako was focused on the injury itself, already checking Storm's shoulder.

"The bullet didn't penetrate." She said after examining wound. It had only taken a chunk off the top of her shoulder but it was still a serious injury. "Keep pressure on it until the bleeding stops and make sure it doesn't get infected." Winry took off her bandana and gave it to Cyclops, who pressed it against the wound. Helping Storm to her feet Cyclops looked over the gathered force. Except for Sabertooth no one else had shot at them but this meant that there was no other way out but to fight or run. The decision of which one was made for him as a bright flash of light and the boom of what sounded like an explosion came out of nowhere. The look on Storm's face told everyone that she didn't do it but Jacobs wasn't going to take chances.

"OPEN FIRE!!!" He ordered. The troops behind them took cover behind trucks to avoid a crossfire but that still meant the X-Men were being fired on from two sides. Colossus turned to his metal form and shielded the others from one side as Wolverine used his own body to block the bullets from the other direction. Knowing they couldn't stay like this for long Cyclops began shouting orders.

"Kurt, get them out of here!" No one needed to guess who 'they' were and before either Pinako or Winry could protest Nightcrawler put a hand on their shoulders and disappeared in a puff of smoke. "The rest of you, take them down. Wolverine, zero body count." He ordered.

"Killjoy." Wolverine growled as the X-Men sprung into action.

Col. Jacobs tried to keep his eye on the developing battle but a strange bamf sound and some kind of horrible smell forced him to turn back towards Armstrong. He was shocked to see the two civilians and one of the strange alchemists standing several yards away from the Major. Well the alchemist stood for a few seconds before falling onto his back. Not about to let an opportunity like this pass him by he took out his pistol.

"Secure the prisoner!" He ordered and two soldiers advanced towards Nightcrawler, rifles ready.

"Leave him alone!" Winry shouted, putting herself between Nightcrawler and the soldiers. "He hasn't done anything!!"

"Out of the way little girl." One of the soldiers sneered and pushed her to the ground, hard. Pinako went over to her granddaughter to make sure she was all right the soldiers stepped past them and stood over Nightcrawler, guns aimed and ready to fire. "Orders sir?"

"Shoot out his knees. If he disappears again he won't be going far after he does."

"Yes sir." The first solider replied but before he could do anything he heard another strange sound from behind him.

WHHHRCLICK

"What the…" The first one said and turned around just in time to be hit in the face by a well-swung Bo, courtesy of Winry.

The collapsible weapon had fascinated Winry and even though Gambit wouldn't let her examine it completely he was nice enough to let her look at it. She had quickly gotten the hang of extending and collapsing the weapon and she had been trying to deduce the inner workings of when the soldiers had arrived. She had returned it to its original owner, thinking he would be needing it, but he had given it back to her instead. She really couldn't think of why she would need it, then the soldiers had cornered Kurt. Knowing just what to do she stood up, took the Bo out of her pocket, extended it, and swung at the first soldier as hard as she could. He went down with a grunt but the second one aimed his rifle at her.

"SHOOT HER!" Jacobs shouted. The second soldier barely had time to register the order when he had his feet pulled out from underneath him and fell flat on his face, dropping his rifle. Looking back he was able to see Nightcrawler's tail wrapped around one of his ankles a spilt second before a three toed foot slammed into his nose.

It had been a risk to teleport two people with him but Nightcrawler had needed to get them both to safety before either of them got shot. Unfortunately the strain had been too much and he had not only missed his intended destination but had collapsed as well. He could see and hear just fine but found it was impossible to move. His strength slowly returned but even when the soldiers had been ordered to shoot him he couldn't defend himself. When Winry had been threatened he had recovered enough to act and managed to trip the soldier then knock him unconscious. As Winry and Pinako helped Nightcrawler sit up Jacobs decided to take matters into his own hands and raised his pistol. However before he could sight his gun his view was blocked by Armstrong's large form.

"Out of the way Major!" Jacobs sneered. Armstrong didn't move a muscle. "Move or you'll be shot as a traitor." He threatened and cocked the hammer to his pistol. Armstrong remained motionless. "Your choice Major." He said and started to squeeze the trigger. In a feat of speed not expected from someone so big Armstrong grabbed Jacobs' pistol, as well as a good portion of his hand, pointed it upward and began to squeeze. "GHAAAAA!!!" Jacobs screamed as he tried to yank his hand free from Armstrong's grip.

"I hardly think a man who doesn't hesitate to order an unarmed civilian shot has the right to decide what is treason and what isn't." Armstrong scowled.

"She assaulted one of my men!" Jacobs almost screamed. "She was a helping a dangerous criminaaaaAAAA!!!!" Now he did scream as Armstrong tightened his grip.

"You haven't said what crimes they have committed, or why they have been branded enemies of the State."

"I don't have to explain anything to you!!" Jacobs screeched. Armstrong frowned and gave a slight twist to Jacobs' hand, forcing the Colonel to his knees. "My men won't listen to you!! You can't stop all of us!!!" He shrieked. Armstrong frowned for a second but after looking behind the Colonel a small smile replaced it.

"I won't have to." He said simply and let go of Jacobs. His gun was crushed beyond use but surprisingly he had no broken bones. His hand was so bruised and swollen he couldn't move it but it was in one piece. The pain might have still been there but he turned around to see what Armstrong was smiling about, and his face immediately fell. The X-Men were, put simply, wiping the floor with his troops.

"Many thanks Herr Major." Armstrong turned around and saw Nightcrawler was back on his feet. "And to Fräulein Winry as well for her quick thinking." Winry smiled shyly and handed Nightcrawler the Bo.

"Gambit will probably want this back." She said, knowing that she wouldn't need it anymore.

"He will be glad it has been put to such good use." He said with a grin before disappearing with a Bamf.

It wasn't the first time Ed had looked down the barrel of a gun and before the man-monster who was holding it could do anything he clapped his hands together and grabbed it. The gun glowed white for a second and when that glow had faded the barrel had twisted itself into a pretzel shape.

"Cute trick." Sabertooth growled as he tossed the useless weapon away. "But it ain't gonna help ya."

"Then how about this?" Ed asked as he rolled to the side. Sabertooth was about to tell the kid what and idiotic move that was when here heard a strange rattling sound that was getting closer. Looking up he saw someone in a suit of armor running right at him, swinging a very large fist. Sabertooth wasn't going to be caught off guard again and ducked the incoming punch. He then wound up and punched Al in the chest plate as hard as he could. The blow resulted in a resounding clang and Al actually stumbled back several feet, almost running into Ed.

"Gahhh!!" Sabertooth howled as he grabbed his hand.

"Hey watch it!" Ed shouted, barely getting out of Al's way.

"Sorry brother." Al apologized.

"So you're the two the boss was talking about." Sabertooth hissed. They looked and saw him examining his now severely deformed hand.

"Well I guess you didn't hear too much about us if you let your hand end up like that." Ed taunted. Lots of people had heard of them and none had been stupid enough to punch Al's steel body full force. While Al didn't have so much as a dent Sabertooth looked like he had broken every bone in his hand. To their surprise the animal looking man actually smiled at them.

"Getting hurt is just part of the game kid." He said and showed the boys his broken hand. As they watched the bones and joints realigned themselves with sickening pops and cracks. In seconds his hand was back to normal and he flexed it to show no trace of the injury remained.

"You're a mutant, aren't you?" Ed asked. A homunculus might have that kind of ability but he had already seen one other display like that earlier. "You're just like Wolverine." Sabertooth scowled at the remark.

"We might have the same power but you've got more in common with him then me." He said, that nasty smile coming back. "Both of ya are just weak little runts." Al wasn't able to stop his brother from sprinting forward and Sabertooth had no chance of dodging this one.

"WHO'RE YOU CALLING SO LITTLE HE'D GET RUN OVER BY AN ANT!?!?" Ed shouted as he buried his automail fist into Sabertooth's stomach. The mutant doubled over with a 'guuhhh' but Ed wasn't finished yet. "WHO'S LITTLE NOW?!?!" He shouted and used his automail leg to knee Sabertooth in the face with a blow that should have knocked him off his feet and sent him flying. The force of the blow forced Sabertooth to stand upright and snapped his head back but to Ed's surprise that was all that it did. As Sabertooth brought his head back down to look at them Ed and Al noticed that while he was now bleeding from his nose and mouth he was still smiling.

"So, looks like the runt can fight after all." He smirked as he wiped blood away from his mouth. He didn't lose that smirk as Ed threw another wild punch with his metal hand. This time Sabertooth grabbed Ed's fist before the punch got to him. "But so can I." He growled and hit Ed with an uppercut that sent _him_ flying. "Just be thankful the boss wants you in one piece." He added as Ed hit the ground.

"Leave him alone!!" Al shouted as he rushed forward, throwing another punch. To his surprise Sabertooth blocked it and countered with an expertly placed kick to his chest-plate. Al stumbled back again but not as far as the first time.

"Guess we have someone who thinks he's pretty good Al." Ed said as he slowly got back to his feet. "How about we show him the right way things are done." He sounded surprisingly cheerful for someone who had just been punched in the head. Truth be told he actually was happy to have an opportunity to work off the all the frustration he had gone through today. This guy might know a few moves and be able to heal fast but Ed was sure the two of them could take him easy.

"Well the boss didn't say I couldn't rough you up a bit." Sabertooth grinned as he cracked his knuckles.

Armstrong was about to intervene in the coming fight when another blast of flame cut him off.

"Now we don't want go and ruin their fun now do we?" The oddly dressed man said as Armstrong turned to face him. Deciding he'd had enough Armstrong put on his gauntlets. "Going to try and knock my teeth in are you?" He asked.

"Something like that." Armstrong replied as he reached down and brought up a handful of the ground. Pyro snorted at Armstrong's choice of weapon but the Major tossed the clump of dirt into the air and punched it as it fell. The soft dirt changed into a blunt stone spear that raced towards a very surprised Pyro. Using both nozzles of his flamethrower he fired a burst of flame that shrank itself into one very dense ball of fire. The two projectiles collided in midair, the heat and force from the fireball causing the spear to explode.

"So you want to play rough?" Pyro asked. "All right mate, whatever you want." Aiming his flamethrower straight down he fired again. Two trails of fire began to zigzag their way towards Armstrong, who readied himself but didn't move. When the fire trails were about to hit him he leapt to the side but the flames matched his movement, making a sharp turn and leaping up onto his shirt. Not panicking Armstrong grabbed his burning shirt and, with what appeared to be practiced ease, tossed it aside.

"It will take more then a little fire to stop the Strong Arm Alchemist!!" Armstrong declared as he went into a dramatic flex. Pyro just looked at the Major in confused silence, neither intimidated nor impressed at the display.

"Okay." The fire-wielding mutant finally said. "Well if a small fire won't do it how about a big one?" He fired straight down again but this time instead of two little trickles there was a literal tidal-wave of flame, at least ten feet tall and three times as wide, that was sent racing towards the Major. And again Armstrong did not panic, even though there would be no way he could dodge or outrun it. Instead he punched the ground with both fists and used his alchemy to send a wave of dirt back at Pyro. The dirt easily snuffed out the fire wave and continued to rush towards the surprised mutant who only got out a surprised 'Wha?!?!?!' before it hit him and knocked him off his feet. "GRAAAMMMMPPPFFFF!!!"

For Pyro his vision became blurry and dirt filled that was only made fuzzier by getting thrown end over end. He landed on his back and the next thing he knew an angry looking Major Armstrong was standing over him. Despite the fact he was still a bit loopy he grinned up at the Major. The idiot had made himself a perfect target. A person could be _blind_ and still hit him at this range. He brought up both nozzles of his flamethrower but was slowed down because both arms had been buried when he landed. Knowing what else might have happened he checked both nozzles and found that they were completely clogged with dirt.

"Oh crud." Pretty much summed everything up. "You wouldn't kick a guy when he's down now would you?" He asked hopefully.

"Of course not." Armstrong answered calmly. Pyro looked confused and relieved at the same time but that didn't last long as Armstrong grabbed the front of his costume and hauled him to his feet. Once Pyro was up the Major let him go and after seeing he could stand on his own lightly punched him in the face. Of course 'lightly' was a relative term and Pyro was knocked off his feet again before he landed in an unconscious heap. That problem taken care of he turned his attention back to the Elrics to see how they were handling the other mutant.

As it turned out they were handling Sabertooth just fine. While he did have some impressive moves he wasn't as fast as Ed or as strong as Al. However his healing ability was, in turn, causing them all sorts of trouble. He was almost laughing off their punches and kicks, even a couple where they heard bones crack. Meanwhile the few punches he managed to tag Ed with were making the side of his face swell up.

"What's the matter runt?" Sabertooth taunted. "Too rough for ya? Maybe you should go back to the playground with all your half-pint friends." Ed had the predictable reaction and ran right at Sabertooth full steam. What wasn't so predictable was that he had learned from his last blind charge and when he got within the mutant's reach he dropped into a crouch. Sabertooth's punch hit nothing but thin air, while Ed drove his automail foot up and into his stomach. Sabertooth grunted but was able to remain upright, and grabbed Ed's ankle.

"Let go of me you bastard!!" Ed shouted.

"Whatever you say runt." Sabertooth replied with a grin. Before Ed could respond Sabertooth swung him up over his head, wound up, and threw the cursing alchemist right at Al. Al tried to catch his brother but missed and both were sent crashing to the ground. "So you two ready to give up yet?"

"I don't think this is working brother." Al stated as he helped Ed to his feet.

"Guess that just means we need to be a bit more creative." Ed replied. He clapped his hands together and placed one of them on the ground. The area around him began to glow slightly blue and as he raised his hand the hilt of what looked like a weapon followed it. Once whatever it was had stopped growing Ed grabbed it and the light faded showing Sabertooth that Ed had created some sort of spear.

"Like that's really going to help you." Sabertooth laughed. Ed didn't respond and rushed forward as Sabertooth just stood and waited. Instead of stabbing Ed swung the spear like a club, something that enabled Sabertooth to easily catch it with one hand. "That was it? That was your great idea?" He asked as he grabbed the spear with both hands and held it still as Ed struggled to get it out of his grasp. Once he did grab it Ed stopped struggling and started smiling.

"No, this is my great idea." He said and let go of the spear. Before Sabertooth could do anything Ed clapped his hands, put one on the spear and the other on the ground. There was the familiar flash of light and the next thing Sabertooth knew his arms were wrapped up in chains all the way up to his elbows.

"Why you…!!" He snarled and tried to reach for Ed but was yanked back by the chains. Looking down the length of them he saw that they were attached to a block of solid granite that wasn't there a second ago. Shooting an angry glare at Ed Sabertooth yanked on the chains but they remained firmly attached. "When I get out of here…!!!!" He growled and he began yanking on the chains as hard as he could. They snapped taut again and again but they remained intact.

"Well that won't be for a while." Ed stated confidently as he watched Sabertooth struggle. "And if you keep that up you're going to hurt yourself." He taunted. Sabertooth was now putting everything he had into getting loose, and was ripping muscles and cutting into his arms in the process. He didn't care though, he could feel that he was making headway and the Elrics couldn't see it. In fact Ed held up a finger and proceeded to lecture the enraged mutant. "Of course that's your own fault. Maybe if you'd found out more about us you wouldn't be tied…."

"RRRAHHHHH!!" With one last heave and the sound of rock breaking Sabertooth managed to pull the chain clear out of the stone. Now free he set his sights on the now completely dumfounded looking Ed. Not bothering to get out of the chains he rushed forward and swung at Ed with both his arms. Ed was able to easily duck and Al managed to catch the end of the chain. Sabertooth started a tug war to get the chain back but Al wasn't about to let go.

"You shouldn't have done that." Al scolded.

"AND WHY NOT?!?" Sabertooth demanded, getting sick of these two brats acting like they were in charge.

"Because then this wouldn't have happened to you!" He heard Ed's voice say. He was about to look and see what the kid meant when there was a clap, a flash of light and then what felt like a boulder slamming into his stomach. Doubling over Sabertooth was able to see part of a stone fist shooting up from the ground and into his gut. "Let go Al!" Sabertooth felt Al drop the chain but before he could do anything there was a second flash as he got a glimpse of a second large stone fist before it nailed him between the eyes. The world went dark for Sabertooth but anyone watching got a great view of the second stone fist sending him into a flying back flip before landing on the ground with a heavy thud. Not knowing how long the mutant would be unconscious Ed played it safe and created a metal cage with thick bars to hold him.

"Do you think we should go help the others now?" Al asked. The answer didn't come from Ed but from warning shout from one of the soldiers.

"LOOK OUT!!!" The two looked just in time to see two soldiers duck as a truck went sailing over their heads. The Elrics and the two soldiers watched as the truck kept on going and finally landed with a loud crash. The soldiers looked back where the truck came from and one of them was struck by a red beam that knocked him off his feet and carried in the same direction as the truck. The second looked at his still flying comrade then back to where the beam had come from, just in time to get hit by a bolt of lightning. He stood there twitching for several seconds, electricity still arching all around him, before collapsing to the ground. Cautiously peering past the truck they had been fighting behind they were greeted by a sight that, despite everything they'd seen, still surprised them.

The X-men were still surrounded, in a sense. Only now who they were surrounded by were broken into three groups. Soldiers that were on the ground moaning in pain, soldiers on the ground unconscious, and soldiers in the process of joining the first two groups.

Wolverine was rushing headlong at four soldiers, and into a hail of bullets from their rifles. Even though Ed and Al could clearly see and hear the bullets striking home the X-Man seemed to be ignoring that fact and didn't slow down. The soldier's faces became increasingly panicked as they realized their bullets were having no effect on the man but they kept firing, hoping he'd go down. Instead Wolverine lunged forward and with one slash of claws sliced the ends off their guns. With his other hand he did an uppercut slash and cut three lines into the chest of the first soldier and slicing the rest of his gun to ribbons. The solider went down screaming and clutching his chest but while the others were watching in horror Wolverine showed he wasn't finished yet. With another swing of his claws he slashed the second solider across the face, making him drop his weapon and cover his wounds, also screaming. He didn't even bother using his claws with the third one. Instead he just jump kicked the third one in the side of the head. He dropped to the ground like a stone and Wolverine turned his attention to the last one but saw that he had thrown away what was left of his weapon and was running away as fast as he could.

"Still got it." He said with a slight smirk. After a half second of watching to make sure the last soldier wasn't going to try anything he turned he attention back to the first three. The third was only unconscious and while the wounds on the first two looked serious Wolverine had made sure they weren't. They'd be hurting for a while and have some nice scars to tell their grandkids about but that would be it. Now sure they weren't going to cause any more trouble he started rushing towards several more soldiers.

Ed and Al heard the familiar bamf of Nightcrawler's teleport and looked to see another group of soldiers aiming their rifles at a small cloud of smoke. The confused looks on their faces didn't last that long as he suddenly appeared behind and above one of them, delivering a well placed kick to the back of the head before disappearing again. He reappeared in front of another solider and hit him with an uppercut and disappeared again. He continued to disappear, strike one solider, then disappear before any of the others could react. Finally when there was only one left he decided to show off a bit. Appearing above and in front of the last solider he grabbed the rifle with his tail, yanked it out of the soldier's hands, and threw it away. He then kicked the soldier in the chest with both feet, sending him to the ground. With no more threats from that particular group Nightcrawler disappeared from sight.

Not far from where Nightcrawler had been they saw Colossus picking up soldiers and tossing them around like they were rag dolls. Those that were out of his reached tried to use their guns but bullets just bounced off his steel skin. They quickly realized that he must have picked up and _thrown_ the tuck that had gotten their attention in the first place. That was no easy feat, even for someone like Armstrong.

The last three X-men had taken up a support role to the ones that were attacking. Cyclops was using some sort of energy beam from his eyes to blast away at soldiers, weapons, he even hit one of the trucks and knocked it on its side. Storm's shoulder made it impossible to concentrate and bring her full powers into play but she was still able to shoot lightning bolts from her free hand as she kept pressure on her wound with the other. By and large the one who was having the most success was the resident card chucker.

"You want to play with Gambit?" The aforementioned mutant asked two soldiers. "Here, take a card." He threw two charged cards that struck their rifles with incredible accuracy, the resulting explosions almost knocking them down. They weren't standing for long as Gambit threw two more cards at their feet. The soldiers were able to look down at the cards for a spilt second but the only thing they could do was widen their eyes before the cards went off. This time the explosion lifted them off their feet and threw them several feet back.

"I guess they don't need help." Al said as the two of them made their way towards the others. The vast majority of the soldiers were now lying on the ground and the very few still standing looked like they were ready bolt any second so they weren't that worried about being shot.

"I guess not." Ed agreed as he took in the sight of all the wounded and unconscious troops. It was an impressive sight, nothing he couldn't have done himself but the X-Men didn't have the advantage of alchemy.

Back behind the perimeter Jacobs was glaring at Armstrong.

"You think you've won, don't you?" He asked, the pain he was feeling from his hand evident in his voice. Not giving the Major a chance to respond he continued. "Well you haven't. When this is over I'll make sure that all of you will be executed as traitors."

"You acted outside the rules of engagement." Armstrong responded. "You intentionally endangered civilians while disobeying a direct order from command. Your threats are empty." He knew everything he said was true. Mustang had the backing of Central on this and Jacobs was obviously part of a rogue operation outside of Central's knowledge. He had no doubt that the Colonel would be the one punished for this fiasco but to Armstrong's surprise Jacobs was smiling.

"That's where you're wrong." He said, wincing slightly as he stood up clutching his hand. "SET HIM LOOSE!!!" He shouted to someone behind them. Turning around Armstrong and the Rockbells saw the only thing he could have been shouting to was the truck he had originally sent the Major towards. At first they thought he was talking about the driver but he quickly jumped out of the vehicle and put as much distance between himself and it as possible. Taking a closer look at the truck Armstrong saw that it was loaded down with so much weight that the wheel wells were almost touching the ground. For a second he thought it might be filled with explosives but that weight began to shift, showing something was moving around in there. It turned out to be some_one_ as a massive boot came into view and set itself on the ground. That might not have been considered strange but the fact that it actually caused the ground to shake and was even felt by the Elrics and X-Men showed something was not normal. A second foot came down; causing another tremor, and they the owner of them came out from behind the truck, straightening up to his full height as he moved.

"Man am I glad to be out of that sardine can." He said as he started to stretch.

Al, Ed, Winry, even Pinako and Armstrong were stunned silent. The guy was dressed in reddish orange clothes and armor, topped off with several metal bands that ran along his arms and a dome like helmet that completely covered his head. That wasn't what had all of them shocked, it was the sheer size of the man. Ed and Al had fought some big guys before but this new guy blew the others out of the water. He stood at least a head and a half taller then either Al or Armstrong and looked like he was almost twice their size!!!

"Who the hell is that?!?" Ed shouted. Like Winry he and Al had more or less ignored the conversation between Armstrong and the X-Men, figuring it was a matter for the State, not for them.

"All de people dey can send and dey got to send Juggernaut." Gambit sighed.

Juggernaut took one look at the X-Men and all the carnage they had caused before smiling and saying just two words.

"Fun time."


	7. Facing the Unstoppable

Chapter 7: Facing the Unstoppable

"They said this was going to be dull babysitting job." Juggernaut said as he started walking towards the X-Men, pounding his fist into his hand. "I was hoping they were wrong." The X-Men didn't say anything but looked even more serious then they had when fighting the State's soldiers. This was a bit confusing for Ed. Sure this guy was big but he was only one person. To the casual observer it looked like the X-Men could wipe the floor with this guy but the other mutants acted like it was the other way around.

Major Armstrong, regardless of what situation it looked like, stepped into the path of the advancing giant. His apparently brazen act was such a surprise to Juggernaut it actually made him stop in his tracks. It wasn't often that he found someone that had the guts, or stupidity, to face him down head on.

"This incident was caused by renegade officers who overstepped their bounds. However I am assuming command and the situation is now under control. I am acting under orders from highest levels of my government, so it would be wise if you did nothing." He told the other man sternly. "Obstruction of those orders will result in severe consequences for any involved. Your friends are already facing such charges so unless you wish to join them you will stand down immediately!" Juggernaut's reaction to the threat was to actually smirk at the Major. This guy 'really' didn't know who he was dealing with.

"Who's gonna make me?" Juggernaut taunted. Armstrong frowned, realizing he would have to use force. Confronting this man had been an odd experience to begin with; he hadn't looked _**up**_ to anyone since he was a teenager. Despite not being as large as his opponent Armstrong was confident that between his alchemy and military training he'd be able to win.

"Very well." He said, setting his feet. "If you will not cooperate you will have to face the technique passed down through the Armstrong family for generations!!" Juggernaut had an unconcerned look on his face as Armstrong threw a punch at his chest. There was a bright flash of light as the Major's alchemy activated to increase his strength and when it faded it revealed… that absolutely nothing had happened!!!!

That wasn't quite the case. At first it looked like nothing had happened to either of them. However a second later something started falling from Armstrong's fist and he saw his gauntlet had shattered. His hand was now a bright shade of red and looked to be swelling up before their eyes. The X-Men were less then surprised but Armstrong himself was so stunned he didn't even draw his fist back. It had been stopped cold by Juggernaut's armor and was still pressed against the unaffected area of impact.

"How…?" He started but Juggernaut didn't give him a chance to finish as he grabbed the Major by his head then casually tossed him over his shoulder like a piece of trash. Armstrong didn't fly that far and landed on, then went through, the canvas roof of the truck Juggernaut had been in. The force of his impact was so strong that all the tires blew out and he left a large dent in the floor.

That annoyance out of the way Juggernaut glanced over at Winry and Pinako. Winry looked scared stiff and Pinako was glaring at him but she wasn't about to do anything. Deciding to ignore them he started walking towards the X-Men again. There was no reason for him to hurry. If they fought him they'd loose and if they ran they'd get tired long before he did.

As it happened Cyclops was going for the second option. On their very best day the six of them might, _might,_ be able to fight Juggernaut to a draw but right now they had two big handicaps. They didn't have a psychic and they couldn't contact one so there was literally no way they could win against him now. They also didn't know if there were any reinforcements, mutant or conventional, coming. Even if it was only more soldiers they couldn't fight both them and Juggernaut at the same time. To compound matters just running wouldn't do it because Juggernaut would follow them.

"Storm, can you get us some cover?" Cyclops asked. He knew she'd have a tough time with that shoulder wound but their options were extremely limited here. Storm closed her eyes and concentrated. Her breathing became heavy and she began sweating but they felt the wind start to pick up. Unfortunately that was as far as it got as her eyes opened and her breathing became fast and shallow.

"I cannot." She answered simply. Cyclops frowned and began coming up with an alternate escape plan but Ed spoke up.

"But I can." He said as he and Al put themselves between the path of Juggernaut and the X-Men. "Don't worry about us, we'll keep this guy busy. What?" The others were now looking at him like he was insane.

"Kid, there's a reason he has that name." Wolverine said.

"So what? I'm not scared of a name." Ed answered. To make sure there weren't any arguments he clapped his hands and slapped them on the ground. This time the flash was accompanied by a dust cloud that covered the entire area behind the two of them, completely hiding the X-Men. "I don't know how long that'll last so you'd better get out of here before it disappears."

"Back to the woods." They heard Cyclops say after several seconds of silence. The last thing he wanted to do was leave the two boys to fight Juggernaut alone but this probably was their best chance at escape.

"You rookies better know what you're doing." Wolverine's voice said as they heard movement within the cloud. The sounds faded and once they were sure the X-Men were gone the Elrics turned to face Juggernaut, who still wasn't hurrying. Ed wasn't worried. They had beaten Sabertooth earlier and after getting over the shock at how big and strong Juggernaut appeared to be he remembered neither of those two things meant 'better'. If all Juggernaut had was brute force he'd be no match for their skills with alchemy.

"You don't know what juggernaut means, do you?" Al asked. Ed almost fell over at the accusation, mostly because Al was absolutely right.

"Who cares what his name is?!?!" Ed shouted as he clapped his hands and put them to the ground again. This time a ripple rushed towards Juggernaut and four thick stone slabs popped up out of the ground, effectively trapping him in a stone box. "It's not like it matters." He added, proud of his work and how easily he had won. A split second later he was proven wrong as the front slab exploded outward. The source of the explosion turned out to be one of Juggernaut's fists.

"It means an unstoppable force that crushes everything in its path." Al said as Juggernaut actually started to run.

"Oh yeah we'll see how unstoppable he is!" Ed shouted as he clapped his hands.

"What are ya gonna do pipsqueak? Hit me with your diaper?" Juggernaut taunted. The veins in Ed's forehead and temples practically leaped out and he slammed both hands to the ground. In front of the charging giant a wall of solid granite five feet thick shot up from the ground.

"I'd like to see you get through that!!" Ed shouted back. Juggernaut obliged and smashed through the wall headfirst like it was made out of rotten wood. Both Ed and Al would have stood there dumfounded if it wasn't for the fact Juggernaut was now right on top of them. He brought his fist down but they managed to dodge it by diving out of the way. Despite the fact Juggernaut had missed the impact of the punch was enough to cause a tremor that almost knocked the Rockbells off their feet.

"Guess the pipsqueak is faster then he looks." Juggernaut said as he turned to face Ed. Again Ed was less then pleased at being called that and angrily pounded the ground to start another transmutation. This time a stone hand similar to the one that had knocked out Sabertooth rose up and grabbed the armored attacker. Performing a second transmutation Ed turned to stone to thick chains of the hardest steel he could make. This time instead of stone the chains were attached to blocks of solid iron.

"Well it looks like this '_pipsqueak'_ just stopped the unstoppable." Ed stated with a triumphant grin. The chains were mainly around Juggernaut's chest and torso, pinning his arms to his sides. His legs weren't tied but there were thick shackles around his ankles that were chained to separate iron blocks. For his part Juggernaut didn't seem worried that he was now tied up and anchored to the ground. He didn't even say anything, all he did was exhale loudly and take a deep breath. As he breathed in the chains around his chest began to snap one by one, making them look like cheap string rather then high grade metal. Once the final chain had snapped Juggernaut smiled.

"I've always wanted to do that." He said as he began to walk forward, snapping his shackles effortlessly. As Ed slowly backed off trying to think of what else he could try Al rushed forward and tackled Juggernaut. More accurately he 'tried' to tackle Juggernaut. What actually happened was he ran into Juggernaut on his right side at full speed but almost bounced off from the impact. Knowing that he had to distract Juggernaut to allow Ed to get away Al switched tactics and grabbed the giant around the waist.

"Brother, run!!" He yelled and tried to throw Juggernaut to the ground. To Al's dismay his opponent had set his feet and it felt like he was trying to push a mountain. Juggernaut looked over at the suit of armor attacking him with a bored expression, lifted his right fist, and almost lazily brought it down on Al's head. It looked like a light hit but it sent Al to the ground face first, hard.

"Don't touch him you bastard!!" Ed shouted as he leapt forward. Juggernaut intercepted him with an almost dismissive backhand that sent Ed flying back and bouncing along the ground. Ed was groaning as he struggled to get up.

"Dumb move tin man." Juggernaut growled, acting like nothing had just happened. Al quickly got to his feet and got into a fighting stance.

"We'll see who's dumb!!" Al replied, furious at what had just happened to Ed. He might not have the weight to knock down his larger opponent but he did have one advantage, Juggernaut wasn't all metal. Since Juggernaut wasn't even trying to guard Al threw a punch at the man's unarmored stomach as hard as he could. The result was a loud clang similar to the one he had heard when Sabertooth had punched him. Only this time it was the impact being forced back up his arm and resonating through the rest of his body. If he had been human he would have pulverized every bone in his hand and quite possibly his entire arm. As it was he broke most of the hinges in his fingers and wrist, along with crumpling the metal that made up his forearm. He couldn't feel pain but Al couldn't help but gape at his now deformed arm. Juggernaut didn't even seem to notice the punch.

"Guess it's you." He said as he grabbed the front of Al's chest plate then lifted him off ground and effortlessly held over his head one handed. Al tried to pry Juggernaut's fingers loose but it was a losing effort as they refused to budge. Instead of loosening his grip Juggernaut actually tightened it, starting to crush Al's chest like an empty soda can.

"Put me down!!" Al shouted, struggling even harder to get out of the grip.

"You got it pal." Juggernaut replied then threw Al to the ground with such force the ground shook and a cloud of dirt flew up. When the dirt settled they saw Al was lying in a small crater he had created. Even though he couldn't get the wind knocked out of him the impact was enough to make even him feel stunned. Before he could even think about getting up Juggernaut put one massive boot on Al's partially crushed chest. "Heh." He laughed and pressed his foot down, caving in it.

"Don't!!" Al shouted, this time in fear. If Juggernaut kept this up he would eventually reach the blood seal and break it. He wasn't the only one who had realized that. Ed had gotten back to his feet and the sight of what Juggernaut was doing to his brother burned away all the fog in his brain.

"Stop it you bastard you're going to kill him!!!!" He screamed. He was aware Juggernaut didn't care and knew he had to do something. Clapping his hands he put them to the ground and used a transmutation he would be hesitant to use against a living opponent. Right now he didn't care, he couldn't with Al's life on the line.

It was similar to the stone hand he had used before but this time jagged spears made out of pure diamond sprung up from behind Juggernaut, aimed at his knees and legs. They struck their targets….and shattered like glass. Ed couldn't believe his eyes. _Nothing_ should have been able to do that, not even another diamond.

"Ah calm down pipsqueak." Juggernaut said, again ignoring Ed's best effort. "I know what I'm doing." To prove his point he crushed Al's chest even further.

"AAAAAAAA!!!!!" Al shrieked, again not out of pain but fear. That was the last straw for Ed. Clapping his hands he charged Juggernaut headlong, not concerned about what might happen. Alchemy wasn't working _against_ this monster but maybe it would work _on_ him. When he was close enough he leapt up and slapped both hands on the back of his metal helmet. The flash that signaled transmutation was unnaturally bright and Ed felt himself flung backwards and back onto the ground. He had tried to reshape the helmet so it would cover the only openings there were, around the eyes and mouth. It would have left the metal misshapen and deformed but when he sat up and looked Ed saw the helmet was unchanged.

"Ok this is getting boring." Juggernaut said, his unmuffled voice confirming that Ed's transmutation failed. He took his foot off of Al's chest but used it to kick out one of his knees, ruining the joint and leaving Al unable to walk. That finished Juggernaut turned to face Ed. "Better start praying squirt." He said as he started walking forward.

"NO!!" Al shouted as he lunged forward and grabbed one of Juggernaut's ankles with his mangled hand. He easily pulled his ankle out of Al's grip and then stomped on his hand. After lifting his foot he grabbed Al by his back and tossed him several yards away. Al was able to sit up and tried to move his fingers but couldn't, his right hand was squashed and now as useless as his knee. He started to crawl towards his brother but he'd never be able to reach Ed before Juggernaut did. "Brother, get away!! Run!!!" He desperately shouted.

Ed should have run but he didn't. Part of it was his stubbornness, part of it was the scientist in him saying that there had to be something that could stop this guy. Nothing was immune to alchemy and nothing was indestructible…nothing!!

"What do you think you are?" Ed asked, mostly to himself. Determined to win he stood his ground and with a clap of his hands 'drew' his preferred weapon, the blade on his automail arm.

"Didn't you hear your tin can bro?" Juggernaut asked as he loomed over Ed. "I'm unstoppable!!" He shouted and threw a left downward punch at Ed. Ed dodged to the inside and brought up his armblade.

"Nothing's unstoppable!!!" Ed shouted back as he brought the blade down. This time he knew what he should aim for. This guy's armor and clothes might be made of materials that could be resistant to attacks so he aimed for an exposed area of skin between two of the metal bands on his arms. His aim was dead on the and blade struck skin, then broke in two with a loud snap. For Ed that snap sounded like the loudest thing in the world at the moment. While he could only look on in disbelief at what just happened Juggernaut grabbed his automail arm and lifted him off the ground.

"Well guess what pipsqueak, I am." Juggernaut smirked.

"Put me down or I'll…..!!!" Ed started to growl before Juggernaut used his other hand to grab the upper part of his body, pinning his other arm to his side. The expression on Ed's face turned to horror as he realized what was about to happen. Juggernaut saw it, gave Ed another smirk, and then ripped his automail arm clear out of its socket. Having the arm disconnected from his nerves was painful enough but having it torn out without any preparation amplified the pain several times over. He didn't want to show any weakness in front of this overgrown bully but Ed couldn't help it and began screaming. Juggernaut ignored Ed's pain filled shriek and was crumpling the automail arm in his massive fist. He held up his hand where Ed could see it as the boy finally found the willpower to cut off his scream and glared at the giant, eyes filled with hatred and pain. Unconcerned with Ed's opinion of him Juggernaut opened his hand and the automail arm, now a mangled ball of wires and metal, fell to the ground.

"Awww. Guess you can't do your little trick anymore now can you?" Juggernaut taunted. Ed was going to give him one of the best curses he could think of when a gunshot made both of them turn and look where it came from. Lt. Colonel Hughes, his head bandaged and pointing his pistol straight up in the air, was now standing next to the Rockbells.

"I think things have gone far enough already. Don't you?" He asked. To anyone else the tone in which he asked that question could have been interpreted as an order, but Hughes wasn't about to try and fool himself. He had checked on Armstrong, who was just starting to wake up in the back of the ruined truck, and caught the very end of the fight between the Elric brothers and that walking tank. If Juggernaut didn't want to stop he wouldn't, and there would be nothing Hughes could do about it. To his surprise Juggernaut looked from Al, who was still crawling towards the two of them, back to Ed, and gave an indifferent shrug.

"Eh, the boss doesn't want them busted up too badly anyway." He said as he let go of Ed and watched him fall to the ground with a thud. "Beating up on the shrimp was kind of boring anyway." He added as he turned around and started walking off, now ignoring both of the brothers. Normally Ed would have shouted something, or rushed forward and try to beat the snot out of whoever said anything like that. Not this time. This time all he could do was clutch his stump of a shoulder and glare at the back of the person who had done it.

"Ed!" His thoughts were broken as he looked and saw that Al had finally reached him.

"Hey Al." Ed replied, a lot calmer then one would expect. "Looks like we blew it huh?" He asked. Even though he couldn't show it Al was very relieved. A question like that showed that despite what had just happened he was more or less okay.

"Looks that way." Al said as he pushed himself up into a sitting position. Even as bad as Al looked he had also come out of the fight relatively all right. He was in one piece, kind of, and the blood seal was still intact so he wasn't in any danger. For the moment anyway, there was no telling when Juggernaut, or something even worse, would turn on them.

As the Elrics were trying to gather themselves after what had just happened someone else was watching with great interest.

It had been easy for Nightcrawler to teleport and not be seen with all the distractions that were happening. Right now he was perched on the roof of the Rockbell's house, being very careful not to reveal himself. He had watched the entire fight between Juggernaut and the Elric brothers while keeping the rest of the X-men, who were now deep in the woods, informed by radio. Even though he had wanted to jump in and help Cyclops had told him to stay put and just watch. When Juggernaut looked like he was about to kill Al Nightcrawler was about to jump in regardless when Cyclops had ordered him not to, and that he believed that Al wasn't in any danger. Nightcrawler was seriously beginning to question his leader's judgment when he noticed several odd things. Most telling was the fact that even though Juggernaut had crushed the armor enough to seriously injure or even kill its occupant he seemed less then surprised at the lack of blood and bones cracking. It was then same when he kicked Al's knee out. No reaction of pain came from Al and again Juggernaut didn't notice how strange that was. Finally there was what he had done to Ed. He had not commented on the creation of Ed's armblade and didn't say anything when he had grabbed Ed's automail arm. Even he would have thought it weird that a kid had a mechanical arm but he didn't say anything about it, he just ripped it out. All that led the X-Men to one conclusion.

"He knew." Nightcrawler said.

"Juggernaut doesn't go easy on someone unless he's told to. And he knew just what he could do without going too far." Cyclops confirmed. This had gone from bad to really bad. The fact that Magneto's thugs were working alongside government troops showed that they were already in good with the government. That they were willing to share something like the secret of the Elric brothers showed just how far in they were. But there was still one chance. "Follow them and try to make contact with Colonel Mustang. If Armstrong is right he might still be willing to listen to us."

"I will do what I can." Nightcrawler answered. He did have several tricks to keep himself hidden but they would only be able to get him so far. Turning his attention back to the immediate area he saw Pinako and Winry rushing towards the two brothers. Even with what had just happened he knew they would be fine.

Hughes, on the other hand, was far from feeling fine at the moment. Juggernaut wasn't doing anything aggressive at the moment but that could change very quickly. And if it did….

(Probably best not to think about that.) Hughes told himself. "This isn't going to look very good for your boss in the eyes of the government." He warned Juggernaut.

"Hey don't try to pin this on us four eyes." A slightly slurred accented voice said from behind the two of them. Looking around they saw a dirt covered, scratched up Pyro stumbling towards them. "Your guys shot first and it's not our fault they couldn't cut it. You want to complain, talk to that other bloody Colonel."

"I believe he already has." A third voice stated from behind them. Turning back they saw Armstrong holding an unconscious Colonel Jacobs by the back of his shirt collar. His head was lying to the side and in the center of his forehead they could see an odd shaped bruise that suspiciously looked like the butt of a handgun.

"From the look he had on his face you'd think he wasn't expecting to see me." Hughes remarked.

"Real surprising." Pyro said. "Aren't you supposed to be taking a nap right now?" He asked. Hughes shrugged.

"Well you see I have this thing with needles, but those two just wouldn't listen." He explained. At that moment the two medics assigned to guard him were at the train station, out cold and tied up with their own uniforms. Getting back to business he faced Armstrong. "I have a feeling this is going to be one interesting report." Armstrong nodded in agreement. "But it's going to have to be back at the lab. We have to get them out of here and fast." He said, glancing at the gathered mutants. "I take it Ed did that?" He asked. The others turned to see what he was looking at and saw Sabertooth throwing himself against the bars of his cage. They were still intact but were beginning to bend under Sabertooth's unrelenting assault.

"Yeah that was me." Ed answered as he helped Al walk over to the truck they were standing near, the Rockbells close behind them.

It had been an interesting couple of minutes after the fight had ended. After Juggernaut had walked away from them Winry and Pinako had run over and began checking Ed for injuries. When they found he had no serious injuries Winry decided to give him one by slapping him across the face as hard as she could. Unprepared Ed was sent face down into the dirt.

"You idiots!" She yelled. "What were you thinking?!?!"

"Huh?" Ed replied, more out of the disorientation then answering the question.

"You rushed headlong into a fight with someone even Logan and his friends, with all the powers they had, weren't about to." Pinako explained, sounding disappointed and angry with the boys. "Even after all that you've seen you still thought of him as just another person and charged right in. That was a rash and stupid thing to do." Ed looked at the ground as he realized Pinako was right. Compared to the other two mutants Juggernaut had the least bizarre appearance, aside from being freakishly large. He didn't look like he had any special abilities, but he had forgotten that all of the X-Men except Nightcrawler were the same way.

"That was pretty dumb of us wasn't it?" Ed asked. "Guess we really messed up this time Al."

"But it's not all our fault." Al spoke up. "The X-Men all did something unique when they activated their powers. That guy didn't do anything."

"That's true." Pinako admitted. "But that doesn't give you an excuse. Nothing is what it seems with these people. You two should keep that in mind in the future."

"Yes ma'am." Ed and Al said, knowing they wouldn't be let off the hook until they got the point. Satisfied that that boys had learned their lesson Pinako got to the other matter at hand.

"Now then, let's have a look at that leg." She told Al. She and Winry began examining Al's ruined knee joint.

"It's not that bad." Al insisted. Compared to most 'injuries' he had sustained this really was nothing. However the Rockbells would hear none of it and acted like Al had never spoken.

"I can probably make a temporary fix." Winry stated. "It'll hold until Ed can use alchemy again."

"That's ok." Al said. "I can do it myself." He reached down with his good hand and began bending the metal of his knee joint. Soon he had the joint bent and twisted so it was now locked into place. He'd be able to walk, with a limp, but fighting was out of the question. After making sure that they were able to the Rockbells helped Ed, then Al to their feet. Al was a little shaky and Ed helped steady his brother. With Ed's help he was able to stiffly walk towards Hughes and Armstrong, as well two of the three mutants. Surprisingly the mutants weren't trying to kill the two officers and were just talking to them. As they got closer they saw Major Armstrong holding the unconscious Colonel that had started this whole mess. Figuring things were under control, but not wanting to get anywhere near the mutants just yet, they headed towards a truck not to far from the group. When he had heard Hughes asked about Sabertooth's…situation Ed had answered to make their presence known.

"That'll make bringing him back a lot easier." Hughes answered as they walked over. "You two holding up?" He asked. He wasn't about to ask them if they were doing 'good' after what had just happened.

"We'll live." Ed said as he helped Al lean against the truck door.

"Well that's something at least." Hughes said. He looked around at the aftermath of what Jacobs had caused and sighed. "Roy is going to be really thrilled when I make my report. We go for a nice and quiet operation and we end up getting this." He turned his attention back to the Elrics. "Ten to one they'll make it look like a renegade commander made an assassination attempt on a State Alchemist. For whatever reason he choose you, and then this happened."

"That's a pretty flimsy story." Ed told him.

"Oh they'll find a way to make it make sense." Hughes replied. "The State is real good at things like that, especially when it comes to keeping stuff like them a secret." He glanced over at Pyro and Juggernaut.

"So what do we do?" Al asked.

"You two aren't going to do anything." Hughes answered. "Except go back to the lab and give us time to figure out what we're going to do next." Ed narrowed his eyes and frowned. Waiting around and doing nothing was 'not' on his list of acceptable options. "Unless you think you can survive another fight in your condition."

"I think we'd do just fine thanks." Ed scowled.

"Against one, two, three, heck because it's the two of you maybe even ten. But what if they send another company after you for what you did? Or they decide that's not enough and use an entire division? We don't know how deep this thing reaches and the only safe place right now is back at the lab."

"What about them?" Ed asked, glaring at Juggernaut and Pyro.

"Believe it or not they're probably the best protection the lab can get right now." Hughes answered. Seeing the questioning looks he was getting he continued. "Their leader is working with Roy directly and if nothing else he's a bit more level headed then the rest of them." That didn't exactly fill Ed with confidence. Compared to the three that were here now almost anyone could be considered level headed. But Hughes never made statements like that unless he was dead serious about them. If he was willing to give a chance, if just barely, to whoever was commanding these mutants then there was a good reason behind it.

"Ok we'll go." Ed relented. "But I need time to get a new arm made so I can fix Al." This time it was Hughes' turn to frown.

"If it's a rush job how long will it take?" He asked the Rockbells.

"Things like this should never be rushed." Pinako answered. "Replacing the arm will take about three days." She finished in a tone that said there would be no arguments. Unfortunately that left Hughes with one very unenviable task.

"We can't afford to wait that long." He said, knowing full well the argument that was coming. "It's best for all of us to get out of here before they can send anyone else. Unless you want us to call in one of our own automail mechanics you'll both have to come with us." There were surprised looks all around, not that it was unexpected.

"Lt. Colonel Hughes." Armstrong began. "I realize it's not my place to say such a thing but do you really think it's wise to include them in this matter further? We could be putting them in even greater danger." Hughes nodded in response.

"I understand your concerns. But they already know more about this project then any civilian should. Putting them under our protection is our only option right now." He then turned his attention to the Rockbells. "And I'm sure we can get you whatever equipment and materials you'll need." All eyes went to Pinako, and after considering it for several seconds she spoke.

"Since it's for the good of the boys it probably is the wisest thing to do." She said. "However you'll have to go without me. I'm too old to go off on adventures like this and they don't need me to look after them."

"Now this is for your protection as well as theirs…" Hughes started.

"I'm not worried." Pinako interrupted. "One old lady isn't a threat to anyone, and the only thing I know is that you went back to some lab almost a thousand miles away. Or was it two thousand?" She added with a small smile. She had just offered to lie in case of questioning and Hughes caught it. He knew that she wouldn't talk and it was doubtful anyone would torture an old woman who's memory was a bit hazy.

"Well if you're going to pull rank on me I guess there's nothing I can do." Hughes said, holding up his hands in mock surrender with a small smile of his own. "Now that only leaves…."

"RRRRRAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!" Everyone turned to look at the source of the feral yell and to no ones surprise it was Sabertooth. What _was_ surprising was that now Sabertooth was trying a different tactic to get out of his improvised cage. He was trying to bend the bars with his bare hands. It seemed like a pointless effort but Sabertooth wasn't one who gave up that easily. His constantly throwing his weight against the bars had already bent and weakened them and now he was using his formidable strength to finish the job. At first it seemed almost laughable but then they saw the bars he was pulling on move slightly. Encouraged by the progress Sabertooth began putting everything he had into. Muscles ripped themselves apart while tendons and ligaments threatened to snap but he didn't care. He was in full berserker mode now and nothing was going to keep him tearing that kid limb from limb. In the end the metal bars turned out to be less unrelenting then Sabertooth and he was able to pull them apart and create a gap just big enough for him to fit through. He forced himself through the hole and didn't even wait for his healing factor to fix his arms before sprinting full speed towards Ed.

"Damn doesn't he know when to quit!?" Ed said as he got himself ready. Despite the shape he was in he was bound and determined to put this guy down…again! Major Armstrong, on the other hand, would have none of it. Dropping Jacobs he ran forward, put himself in front of Ed, and charged the onrushing mutant. He wasn't fool enough to try and take the enraged mutant in hand-to-hand combat so he stopped several yards away from him.

"Enough!!" He shouted and punched the ground with his still intact gauntlet. A wave of alchemic energy rushed towards Sabertooth and if he had kept on running he would have been impaled on the row of stone spikes that sprung from the ground in front of him. Instead he was able to see it coming and just before the wave would have met him he crouched low and leapt into the air. Armstrong watched as Sabertooth easily cleared the spikes and stood up, trying to get ready for the impact. When Sabertooth came down he hit Armstrong in the chest with both feet but because he was unable to properly set his own feet the Major was knocked off balance and onto his back. In an uncharacteristic move for Sabertooth he didn't stop to inflict further damage to Armstrong and again ran strait towards Ed. Armstrong rolled over and tried to grab Sabertooth's ankle but his fingers just missed. He started to rise but he knew that he wouldn't be able to catch up in time.

Hughes brought up his gun and attempted to block the mutant's path but Sabertooth just dodged to one side and punched him in the jaw. Hughes fell to the ground and the world started spinning blurrily but he was still able to see Sabertooth run past him and Al move in front of Ed. Al threw a punch with his good fist but Sabertooth was too quick. He ducked; grabbed Al's wrist with one hand, grabbed his waist with the other, then with a grunt of effort lifted Al over his head and slammed him to the ground headfirst. Knowing he only had a few seconds before Al recovered Sabertooth turned back to Ed, who had put himself in front of Winry and Pinako, and raised his hand with claws ready.

"Say goodbye runt!!" He shouted and brought his hand down. More like trying to bring his hand down and being jerked to a stop. The cause of that sudden stop turned out to be a giant fist encompassing his entire forearm. Everyone was of course relieved but that relief turned to stunned amazement. As they looked down the arm attached to the fist they saw it belonged to Juggernaut, not Armstrong, and he had just saved Ed. Sabertooth looked up at Juggernaut with a crazed, unbelieving look. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING YOU BUCKET HEAD?!?!?!"

"We need him in one piece." Juggernaut bluntly answered. That only served to further enrage Sabertooth.

"YOU RIPPED HIS GODDAMN ARM OFF YOU IDIOT!!!!" He screamed.

"Well he can just get some spare parts for that." Juggernaut answered. "I let you at him there won't be anything to replace."

"That's the idea." Sabertooth growled in a low dangerous tone. For some reason he sounded scarier now then when he had been yelling. Of course Juggernaut remained unfazed. "So let go of me RIGHT NOW OR I'LL…..!!!" Apparently out of patience Juggernaut bent Sabertooth's arm and got a loud SNAP for his efforts. "AAAAAAAH!!!" Sabertooth howled. Ignoring the screaming Juggernaut twisted the arm again and there was a second snap. "GHAAA….!!!" Juggernaut let go of Sabertooth for a moment before using that same hand to grab him by the back of the head and lift him off the ground.

"If the boss says the kid comes back unhurt, the kid comes back unhurt." Juggernaut said, acting like he was talking to a disobedient dog.

"_If the boss says…_" Sabertooth mocked. "Like I give a flying f…" That was as far as he got before Juggernaut flicked his wrist and snapped Sabertooth's neck like a matchstick. Sabertooth twitched once then went completely limp. There were horrified looks from everyone, expect for Pyro, and Winry screamed. They knew these guys were ruthless but Juggernaut had just killed one of his own team without a second thought. That might have been bad enough but Juggernaut wasn't finished yet. Walking over to the front of the truck slammed Sabertooth's head into the grille with such force he drove the paralyzed mutant inside the engine compartment up just past his shoulders. Deciding he had done enough he let go and left Sabertooth hanging half in, half out of the truck.

"What?" He asked the group of shocked onlookers. "You'd rather I'd let him gut ya?" He asked Ed specifically.

"Well… no…" Ed answered, as he helped Al stand. "But you didn't have to kill him!" As far as he and Al were concerned killing someone, even if they were like Sabertooth, was absolutely _the last_ option you used. There were at least a dozen other ways Juggernaut could have incapacitated Sabertooth but had gone straight for breaking the neck.

"Kill him?" Juggernaut asked, turning to look at the still unmoving Sabertooth. "Ah he's been through worse then that before."

"Worse?!" Ed, Al and Winry asked simultaneously. Healing up blunt trauma and bullet wounds ok, but a broken neck?! They didn't even think Wolverine would be able to survive that. Unlike them Hughes had no problem believing it.

"Great, that means he's going to be back to perfect health in a few minutes and angrier then before. How do you intend to keep him under control all the way back?" He asked Juggernaut. "You just can't keep on breaking his neck."

"Why not? It works." Juggernaut asked in return. Hughes certainly wasn't expecting that and now he had come up with a way to convince an indestructible giant that constantly breaking someone's neck was _not_ a good idea. Fortunately Al spoke up and managed to save him from actually having to make that argument.

"I've got a better idea." He said, taking out a piece of chalk from inside his armor that had somehow survived the fight and remained in one piece. With Ed helping him walk over he drew a transmutation circle on the hood of the truck with his one good hand. Once he was finished he dropped the chalk and put his hand on top the circle. There was a flash of energy and every part of the truck in front of the windshield began to glow white. The now glowing section seemed to move on it's own accord and reshape itself around Sabertooth. When the glow faded it revealed that Al indeed had solved the problem of keeping Sabertooth secure. Thick manacles fully encased both his hands, preventing him from using his claws, and ran down to the middle of his forearms. They held his arms in a crossed position like a straightjacket, fused directly to a heavy metal harness he was now wearing as well as indirectly by multiple chains and strips of metal as a back up. To make sure he couldn't use his arms properly two more solid pieces of metal surrounded his elbows, locking them in place. On his face was a metal, vent like mask that covered his mouth that would keep him from using that mouth full of sharp teeth on anyone.

On Sabertooth's legs were shackles that went from his ankles and went up to and around his knees, again leaving the joints immobilized. To further ensure that he would remain as immobile as possible not one but several lengths of chains connected the two shackles. An additional chain went from the back of each calf and was attached to the back of the harness so that even if Sabertooth managed to start walking he wouldn't get very far. As a finishing touch even more stretches of thicker, heavier chain were wrapped around him like rope.

"Nice job Al." Ed commented. It was an impressive piece of work and looked to be escape proof, even when you considered who it was holding. "What's it made out of? That doesn't look like steel." He added, noticing the odd texture of the metal.

"Oh, it's a combination of iron and lead." Al said. "I thought it would be a good idea to make it as heavy as possible." Ed smiled, proud of his brother. There was a sudden rattle of chains and they got a second opinion about Al's work. A very negative one.

"You miserable junk heap bastard!!" A healed up and, as predicted, angry Sabertooth shouted. "Don't think that this is gonna keep me from gutting that runt of a brother of yours!! I'll get out of this and when I do….!!!" Ed was scowling down at the ranting mutant as he tried to get up but as strong as Sabertooth was he wasn't strong enough to move. Ed was about to hit him for what he said about his brother but Al acted first, reaching down towards the mask he had made. "Get the hell away from me you son of a….!!!" He was cut of as Al flipped a small lever on the side of the mask. The vents of the mask narrowed into thin spaces with a soft clang. "Bthhhhh. Grmmmff phpppphhhh guhhhhfff!!" The vents still let Sabertooth breath but they were now muffling everything he was saying. He struggled to escape and yelled as loudly as he could, and both turned out to be exercises in futility. His restraints were too thick and heavy and the mask made anything he said sound like garbled nonsense. After struggling for a moment he gave up and glared at Al.

"Nice touch Al." Hughes commented. "I think I like him better this way." Sabertooth turned his glare towards Hughes and let out a growl that could be heard loud and clear, in spite of the mask. "Well I guess that takes care of our main problem." He said, ignoring the growl. "We can put the three of you in the freight section and we'll take the regular car." He told the three mutants.

"Hey! Why do we have to sit with the bloody luggage?" Pyro asked.

"Because instead of helping your superior officer you decided to ignore orders and cause all this collateral damage." Hughes snapped back. "I'm still in charge until Colonel Mustang says otherwise. Just like what Magneto agreed to." Pyro scowled but relented. If there was one thing none of them were prepared to do it was go against Magneto's orders. "Well now that we've got that settled let's get out of here before anyone else shows up. You guys didn't see anything right?" He asked Jacob's troops, those that were still conscious anyway. There were several groans and terrified nods and that was enough for Hughes. After he was assured by Pinako that she'd be all right and bandaging up Armstrong's hand they commandeered two of still working trucks and drove back to the train station. Hughes drove the three mutants back, after watching with some amusement when Sabertooth was tossed in the back like a bag, while Armstrong took the kids. No one in Armstrong's truck heard a small thump that came from the roof on the back and Nightcrawler was able to hitch a ride unnoticed.

Unnoticed by either Nightcrawler or anyone else what had caused the thunderclap that initiated the battle sat hovering several hundred feet above the ground. Slightly larger then a basketball a white metal sphere with a large lens that was obviously part of a camera had silently observed everything from afar.

Marvel Earth

Magneto's two scientists had watched the incoming flow of data from their probe with great interest.

"Well at least the tracking program worked." The first scientist said.

"But it wasn't accurate enough to lock onto where the portals were opened." The brash scientist added.

"We were lucky that the equipment was still operable at all after that energy spike." The first one replied. The repairs needed to get the portal generator back on line had been very minor in spite of both the attack by the X-Men and the energy bolts that had taken both them and the Brotherhood. "How's the camouflage holding up?" He asked. The brash scientist looked at a separate monitor.

"Holographic projectors and jamming equipment are running at optimum efficiency." He reported. One of the fail-safes the base had if its location had been compromised were holographic projectors that would show any airplane or satellite flying overhead a canyon of collapsed ice. The jamming equipment would block any signals being sent out of the base, intentional or not. This way whoever had found the place would be convinced it was wrecked beyond salvage and leave it alone.

"Good. That should buy us the time we need to locate and bring Magneto back. Hopefully we can salvage something from all this by stranding the X-Men and get back on his good side."

"Oh I think we can do much better then that." The brash scientist said smugly. The first scientist looked at the brash one in confusion.

"And how can we do that?" He asked, not liking the tone the other man was taking.

"By getting on _his_ good side." The brash scientist said, pointing behind them and smirking. The first scientist frowned and looked where the scientist was pointing. That frown disappeared into a look of wide-eyed horror. "It's always best to be on the winning team." He said right before a blast of energy reduced the first scientist to the pile of blackened bones. Ignoring what was left of his former colleague the brash scientist lowered himself to one knee and bowed his head.

"Arise my loyal servant." A very deep and slightly mechanical sounding voice said. As the scientist stood the voice continued. "You have proven your worth to me and you shall be rewarded."

"I thank you my lord." The scientist said, his head still bowed. "I trust you have seen the latest information we have gathered."

"I have." The voice answered. "A world where even the lowliest of humans can develop powers undreamed of by most mortals." A large shadow loomed over a pair screens. On one was a replay of the fight between the Elric brothers and Juggernaut. On the second there was a readout from the probe's scanners. It revealed no genetic mutation in the one called Edward, nor any advanced technology in his mechanical limbs. If a mere child could evolve into something so powerful, of his own will apparently, imagine what could be accomplished with a guiding hand and the will to make it happen.

"It shall serve my purposes quite well." The voice said, sounding like he had just pronounced a death sentence.


	8. Meeting the other side

Chapter 8: Meeting the other side

For all the commotion that had been happening the train station was oddly calm. As the two trucks approached there was no crowd milling around to see what was going on, and no sentries came out to challenge them. The military coming out in such force had done a superb job at keeping civilians in their homes. As for the troops themselves, Hughes had told them the only ones there were the two medics that were supposed to be watching him. Jacobs must have had assumed they wouldn't need to guard his transportation out of here or he thought he would need every one of his soldiers in confronting the X-Men. Either way things were going in their favor and no one was going to question that. While Hughes went to the locomotive to inform the engineer of their new destination Armstrong stood on the platform with Winry and the Elrics, watching as the three mutants walked to the freight car. To be more specific Pyro and Juggernaut walked there, while Sabertooth had to settle for Juggernaut dragging him by the ankles. He angrily glared back at Ed and Al, the former giving the bound mutant a cocky smirk and cheerful wave. Sabertooth began to growl but suddenly felt himself leaving the ground.

"Grraaaa??!?!?" Was the only thing the others could hear as Juggernaut tossed him into the car headfirst. There was a loud crash and Ed began snickering as the other two began to climb in, neither looking the least bit concerned about their teammate's comfort or safety. The freight car door slid shut with a loud clang and only then did Armstrong seem satisfied that things were in order. He turned to the others and began to speak when he heard footsteps approaching from behind. The others heard it as well and all whirled around, half expecting another attack by another mutant that had been waiting in the wings.

What they saw was a dark haired man wearing a black shirt and brown pants. The Elric bothers and Winry visibly relaxed but Armstrong was still on guard. Even if the man didn't have anything to do with what happened there had to be as little civilian involvement as possible.

"Stay here." Armstrong told the others as he walked over to the man, who stopped as soon as he began moving and waited patiently for the Major. Armstrong took that as a good sign but still stopped several feet away from the man in case he tried something. "I'm sorry sir but this area is currently off limits to civilians, due to what happened earlier. For your own safety I suggest you return to your home and wait until the situation is under control. We don't want anyone else getting hurt." To Armstrong's surprise the man nodded his head in agreement and began to speak so quietly he could barely hear him.

"I appreciate your concern but some friends of mine are leaving on a train soon and it would be rude if I did not come to see them off." He said with a strange accent, one that Armstrong had heard before. Noticing the surprised look on Armstrong's face the man smiled slightly and held up his hand to keep the Major from saying anything. The hand appeared to have five fingers but the index and middle, as well as the pinky and ring finger, seemed to be fused together. Now positive about who he was talking to Armstrong lowered his voice so the conversation would be kept between the two of them.

"It's good to see you were able to get away safely." He told the man, who he now knew was Nightcrawler. "Are the others safe as well? With Storm's injury…."

"She and the others are indeed safe, and thank you for your concern." Nightcrawler answered. "They are also well hidden so do not have any worries about them being found."

"That's good to hear." Armstrong responded. "And it is very fortunate that you were able to get here before we left. I'm sure Lt. Colonel Hughes will give you safe passage to the lab with us and have you meet with Colonel Mustang. With that disguise and our assistance you won't be questioned and risk revealing who you are." Of course Armstrong was baffled how such a realistic disguise could be created so quickly and completely. If it wasn't for the fact he had met Nightcrawler beforehand Armstrong was certain he wouldn't be able to tell this man standing in front of him was the same person. What he did know was not to question it. He had been around the X-Men long enough to know something like this was likely routine for them so he wasn't about to question the how so long as it worked.

"I'm afraid I cannot go with you." Nightcrawler responded. "There are others that would recognize me despite my disguise and that would put all of you as well as myself in danger." He no doubt meant the other mutants and it was apparent that they were still unwilling to fully trust the State. Armstrong frowned but could understand why they were being so cautious. Colonel Jacobs had proved that there were those with their own agendas and some of the mutants from the second group could be involved. "I am here to find out what the next course of action should be." Armstrong nodded, seeing that the X-Men were still willing to trust him at least.

"The lab would be the safest place for you." Armstrong said. "There still might be problems with your fellow mutants," He glanced at the freight car to check that no one was listening. "but I'm sure after this you'll have the Colonel's full support. Patrols are sure to be out looking for you and we can easily send someone to pick you up if you give us a location….."

"Unfortunately that will give the ones who are not with your Colonel a greater chance to find us as well." Nightcrawler interrupted. He reached up and appeared to be adjusting the collar of his shirt. "But we do have another way of getting there." He to looked at the freight car to make sure nothing seemed suspicious "I'm sure you can understand the values of secrets, correct?" He asked. Armstrong understood that he was being asked not only to be careful about who he told about this conversation but also not to ask for any details on just how the X-Men would accomplish what Nightcrawler claimed.

"I can assure you only the most trustworthy of souls will be told of this." Armstrong answered.

"It is very much appreciated my friend." Nightcrawler said as he smiled and put out his hand. "I hope that the next time we all meet it will be under better circumstances."

"As do I." Armstrong said as he shook the other man's hand.

"Please give our regards to the others as well. And don't worry about looking for us, we will find you." Nightcrawler said with a knowing smile as he lowered his hand. "Now I am afraid I must take my leave. Too many might have already seen me." He gave another glance towards the freight car before turning around and walking away. Armstrong watched Nightcrawler go before looking down to see what had been slipped to him when they had shook hands. It was a small patch of black cloth, in the center of which was a yellow button in the shape of an X. Armstrong had noticed buttons such as this on the collar portions of several of the X-Men's uniforms but couldn't understand what they were or why he had been given it. Still, there was no doubt a good reason he had been given this and knew that he couldn't risk anyone who shouldn't know find out so he slipped it into his pocket before turning around and walking back to the others.

"So what was that about?" Ed asked when he got back over.

"A misunderstanding about the train schedule." Armstrong answered. "He was expecting to meet someone and thought this train was the one he was on."

"Uh huh." Ed replied with a dubious look. Winry opened her mouth to say something but Armstrong spoke first.

"Now with that misunderstanding taken care of we should get aboard immediately. We have quite a long trip ahead of us, and cannot waste time." He said as he herded the three of them towards the blacked out car near the front of the train, much to their confusion.

Despite the Major's insistence that they hurry it was more then twenty minutes, and three fishy stares lasting almost as long, before the train started moving. As it built up speed Hughes entered the car.

"Sorry about that but I needed to bring Roy up to speed on what's happening. Between what I saw and what the Major told me it was a long story." He explained as he sat down. "He's going to call some of his contacts in Central and try to find out exactly what's going on. He'll also be having a little talk with Magneto so there won't be any chain of command 'confusion' again."

"Yeah like that's going to help." Ed remarked. The three mutants in the freight car had already shown that they only loosely followed orders, even from their own boss.

"Well it's either that or we try to arrest them." Hughes nodded in the direction of the freight car. "And I don't know about you but I really don't think getting someone like Juggernaut angry." There was no response from the others. Pyro and Sabertooth they could subdue and detain but Juggernaut….Hughes was doubtful anything could hold that guy for more then half a second. Deciding that the conversation needed a change of course he turned to Armstrong. "So what was that little meeting at the station all about?" He asked casually. Armstrong didn't seem that surprised that Hughes knew about that and answered with a question of his own.

"Is it safe to speak in here?"

"As safe as it is anywhere can be." Hughes answered. Armstrong nodded and continued.

"The man I was speaking with was actually one of the X-Men, known as Nightcrawler." Before he could continue Ed decided to interrupt.

"How could that have been him?" He asked, clearly surprised.

"It didn't look anything like Kurt." Winry added. Al said nothing but it was clear he was thinking about those same things.

"I don't know how he made himself look so different so well," Armstrong continued. "but I am positive it was him."

"So does that mean we have a stowaway on board somewhere?" Hughes asked. He wasn't that concerned that Nightcrawler may have snuck on the train, in fact he was kind of hoping for it. That way they'd have at least one direct connection to the second group of mutants and not just rumors and hearsay.

"No it does not." Armstrong answered. "He claimed his disguise would not be foolproof so he could not risk exposing himself. If he was caught in such a covert action it would not bode well with the other group of mutants or our own military."

{So much for something going our way.} Hughes thought, though he could see the mutant's point. Things weren't going so well with Magneto's group or their own superior officers _now_ and something like that would only make things worse.

"However he did show that they are still willing to put their trust in Colonel Mustang, and in us." He added, looking at Winry and the two Elrics.

"Well at least we have a bit of good news." Hughes said. "But even if they're willing to work with us it doesn't help if we don't know where they are. Did they give you a location where we could pick them up? Or did you give them directions to the lab?"

"I did not have the opportunity to, and they will not stay in one place for very long for fear of encountering someone similar to Colonel Jacobs." Hughes let out a sigh. It was a wise precaution but it made their job a lot harder. Before he could try to figure out how they were going to solve 'this' one Armstrong continued. "What he did claim was that they would be able to find there way to us." This was greeted with confused stares all around, even from Hughes.

"How would they be able to do that?" Al asked. "Kurt can only teleport to someplace he sees, he said so himself." Hughes raised an eyebrow at the word teleportation but kept quiet, knowing he'd hear all about it soon enough.

"In truth I have no idea." Armstrong answered as he began to reach into is pocket. "He only said that they would find us and gave me this." He put his hand out and opened it giving everyone a good view of the button Nightcrawler had given him.

A good view that lasted for a fraction of a second before a gasp was heard and the object disappeared from Armstrong's hand. One moment it was there, the next it seemed to vanish without a trace. The four of them stared at Armstrong's empty hand for a few seconds and exchanged baffled looks before they heard a squeal come from Winry. Their faces fell slightly as they figured out what was going on and all of them slowly turned towards Winry, who was looking at the button from every conceivable angle and seemed pretty close to swooning over it.

"This is incredible!" She squealed as she continued to examine it, oblivious to the stares she was getting. "I wanted to get an up close look at one of their radios but I never thought I'd get the chance!!!"

"Hold on a second." Ed said, breaking the silence coming from the guys. "That thing is a radio?"

"That's right!" Winry said excitedly. "Can you just imagine what went into making this so compact and powerful!?!" She asked, more to herself then to the others.

"Yeah it really is something." Hughes said as he went over to get a closer look at it. Unlike Winry's utter fascination with it Hughes frowned when he saw just how small it is. "Are you sure this will let them follow us?" He asked Armstrong. Despite the fact he had accepted mutant powers existed he still had trouble believing this kind of technology was possible.

"If Nightcrawler believes it can I see no reason to doubt him." Armstrong answered.

"Well then I guess we need to make sure it's taken care of then." Hughes said. Winry nodded her head enthusiastically at the statement. That enthusiasm evaporated when Hughes held out his hand. The look of joy on her face was replaced by one of a child that was about to get their favorite toy taken away. "Come on Winry. You know it'd be safer if myself or Major Armstrong held onto it right?" She looked back down at the radio.

"But…" She started.

"We'll be real careful with it. I promise." Hughes reassured her. Winry was motionless for several seconds before she very hesitantly gave the radio to Hughes. "Tell you what. I'll try to get permission for you to keep it when the X-Men go home. That sound good?" Winry's expression brightened significantly. "All right then. Major I believe you're the best suited to watch this thing until we get back so.." He tossed the radio to Armstrong, who caught it without a problem. However the action caused Winry to turn pale with a look of horror on her face. Hughes hadn't done it to upset her and was about to say something when they heard snickering. Said snickering was coming from Ed, who couldn't help but laugh at the way Winry reacted to a piece of machinery. A very high tech piece of machinery, but still just a piece of machinery. The snickering stopped as Winery slowly turned her head towards him with a look that would probably make grown men cringe. Ed started to pretend he had been looking at something very interesting on the ceiling as Al and Hughes started to quickly inch their way back.

In the freight car the three members of the Brotherhood had been riding in silence since the train had gotten underway. Even if they wanted to talk to each other the car didn't exactly filter out the noise of the engine or the rumble of the train itself moving very well. They would have had to yell just to be heard over the racket and since no one wanted to, or in Sabertooth's case _could_, start screaming at the top of their lungs they had kept quiet. They had gotten used to the noises the train was making when they heard something that definitely seemed out of place.

"AND WHAT'S SO FUNNY?!?!?!?" While it wasn't loud and clear it wasn't very faint either. It was the same for what followed.

"YAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!" CRASH!!

They all looked in the direction the commotion had come from before deciding it wasn't their concern and went back to waiting out the rest of the train ride.

In Mustang's office at the Gate lab the Colonel was currently explaining the incident at Reesembol to Magneto. Hawkeye stood off to the side and watched the briefing in silence. Neither of the men were pleased with what had happened.

"This is going to place quite a strain on mutant relationships with the State." The Colonel told the mutant leader. "Even though it was the X-Men that actually engaged our troops it won't take that much of a push for Central to see all mutants as a threat. The fact that your men went outside the chain of command given to them won't help matters either."

"You have my assurance they will be disciplined." Magneto promptly replied. "And do not try to hold my men accountable for what happened between your military and the X-Men. If it is true Sabertooth fired the first shot he does share some of the blame but your Colonel Jacobs had the opportunity to stop it. Instead of ending the situation before it started he chose to follow Sabertooth's ill-advised actions and instigate the battle. They should not have been obeying Jacobs but _he_ should not have been there in the first place. Your side shoulders just as much, if not more, blame for this then mine." He accused.

"I'm well aware of that." Mustang answered. "I've already launched an investigation into Colonel Jacobs and any activity surrounding him. We haven't received any solid information yet but so far all indications are that this is the act of just one renegade officer. And I find that explanation highly unlikely."

"So you believe your own government has gone back on its word?" Magneto asked, not sounding like he would be surprised if that was the case.

"I believe certain parts of it may have." Mustang answered. "As a whole I don't believe it has. An alliance with you would benefit the State in more ways then some people could imagine. There might be some that think the risk is too great, and others that are far too ambitious and centered on personal gain of their own good. Those would be far outnumbered by the ones who have the best interest of the State and it's people in mind. I'm not denying that this is a cause for concern but matters like this would best be left to us and..."

"Leaving it to your government is what caused this problem in the first place." Magneto interrupted. Mustang frowned at being cut off but it was a valid point. "I'm warning you Colonel; I will not tolerate the use of myself, or those I command, as tools to further your own ends. If another incident caused by your government like this occurs again…."

"I doubt that will happen." Mustang said to cut off the accusation. "As I stated before, the State's alliance with you would yield too much to jeopardize it like this. I'm sure once word of this has reached the Fuehrer he'll make sure to give priority to make sure it doesn't happen again." Far from being assured by Mustang's statement Magneto visibly stiffened.

"What did you say?" He asked in a voice so cold and menacing Hawkeye, out of reflex, started reaching for her gun. Unfortunately Magneto caught her movement and snapped his head in her direction. The pistol she was reaching for tore itself out of its holster and began hovering next to her. "An unwise move my dear." He said and the gun seemed to explode on its own accord, sending pieces flying all over the office. Being right next to the gun Hawkeye instinctively flinched as the pieces flew by her but Mustang remained motionless, knowing the control Magneto had and fairly certain that he would not try to harm the two of them over this. Once the pieces of the gun clattered to the ground Mustang glanced over at Hawkeye and saw she was both unhurt and still had her composure despite what had happened. Seeing that he focused back on Magneto and narrowed his eyes.

"I was merely stating that the Fuehrer will devote his full attention to making sure this alliance works." Mustang finally answered. He could not figure out why a statement like that would cause Magneto to become so angry but he appeared to have touched a nerve. As he began wracking his brain to figure out what he might have said wrong Magneto asked him another question.

"Fuehrer. That is the official title of your country's leader?" He asked, his voice still cold and menacing.

{_That's_ what this is about?} Mustang asked himself. {The title of our leader?} Out loud he said. "Yes it is." He thought that a simple answer that wouldn't anger the mutant any more. Wrong. Magneto's hands clenched into fists and Mustang swore he could see a pair of glowing eyes inside that dark helmet. Now Mustang was beginning to worry that the mutant leader might lash out in some way. With all the metal objects in the office and no time to reach for his gloves Hawkeye and himself were essentially at his mercy. Fortunately for the two of them the glow from inside his helmet faded and he unclenched his fists but they could see he was far from calming down.

"I understand that this is a different world then my own, and things don't work in the same way they do on mine. But only one man in the history of my world has ever used that title, and he is considered by almost all to be evil incarnate."

"So you're basing your judgment of our Fuehrer, who you know nothing about, off the one that you know of?" Mustang asked. "That doesn't seem to be a very sound way of thinking." To officers like him Fuehrer was just a title, like Major or Colonel, but to Magneto it seemed to mean something else entirely. Mustang knew that Magneto was smart enough to not just make a decision about something so important based on something else completely unrelated. That meant he was convinced that there was some sort of similarity, one that warranted aggressive action on his part. Hopefully this bit of prodding would make him give more details of the Fuehrer he knew, after which Mustang could differentiate their own.

"Understand this Colonel. I have lived too long and been through too much to attribute something like this to mere coincidence. If these two men share the same title, even worlds apart, it is fairly certain that the title is not the only thing they have in common. I have seen what one man given absolute power can do…" He brought up his left arm, rolled up his sleeve and held it out, showing Mustang and Hawkeye the underside of his forearm. On it was a tattoo composed solely of numbers that, while they had faded with age, were still clearly visible. "…and I swore, never again." He said as he pulled his sleeve back down. "We shall discuss this later." He stated with finality. Without waiting for Mustang to reply Magneto turned towards the door, which opened on its own, and walked out of the office. After he left the door closed itself, leaving the two of them in a very uneasy silence. Hawkeye glanced over at Mustang and saw him leaning back in his chair, frowning as he went over what had just happened and pondering what to do next.

As he made his way back to the library Magneto already knew what his course of action would be. So far he had only read books pertaining to science, alchemy in particular, not the history or interworkings of this country. That had been a mistake, one he needed to correct. The more he knew about this country and its history the better he could determine if he was overreacting to their leader's title of Fuehrer, though he doubted he was. There had been no mention of their leader's title, or even name, in any of the personnel files he had been given, or the ones he had Mystique procure for him. Most likely because he had no 'official' personal involvement with any of the people in the files or with this place at all. He had quite a bit of research to do.

Several hours later saw military cars and a truck waiting at the train station several miles from the castle. The Elrics and Winry were quickly ushered into one of the cars along with Major Armstrong while Hughes rode in the second car. Their three 'guests' climbed, or in Sabertooth's case were thrown, into one of the trucks. The short ride to the castle was silent; they had pretty much talked about everything on the train before they got here. Armstrong had given Hughes details of the fight that he had missed while Hughes had informed the four of them on what had transpired back at the castle in their absence. They had been less then thrilled to learn that not only was the State formally allied with the mutants that had just tried to kill them but also gave them rank and authority in the military.

As they pulled up to the castle entrance they saw Hawkeye waiting for them, with a more serious then usual look on her face.

"The Colonel is expecting you." She said as they got out of the car. Before they could respond there was a crash and a loud grunt coming from behind the truck. They looked and saw Sabertooth in a heap in the ground several yards away from the vehicle. Pyro and Juggernaut then jumped out, the latter causing a tremor that almost sent the unsteady Al and Ed, his support, crashing to the ground. Hawkeye's expression darkened as she eyed the three. "You're expected to." She told them curtly.

"Uh huh." Juggernaut answered as he began to drag Sabertooth inside.

"Whatever you say babe." Pyro added as he followed the two of them, ignoring the look Hawkeye gave him for that remark.

"Swell bunch of guys Mustang allowed to sign up." Ed remarked with a sneer when the three of them were out of sight. Hawkeye didn't say anything but Hughes was able to guess from the look on her face.

"Things have gotten worse I take it?" He asked.

"We're not really sure." Hawkeye admitted as she led them inside.

"What happened? Did one of these guys turn out to have a god complex like the Colonel?" Ed asked sarcastically. Hawkeye didn't respond and just continued walking, giving people suspicious looks as they passed. Once they got to Mustang's office she knocked on the door twice.

"Just leave the letter in front of the door." Mustang's voice came from inside. Ed, Al and Winry exchanged confused glances.

"Roy's favorite new lady." Hughes said. It took a second for it to sink in but the three of them began to realize what he meant. On the train ride here they had been briefed on the mutants in Magneto's group along with the extent of what they knew about their powers. _This_ time all three had paid attention, knowing how cautious they'd have to be around them. Especially with the shape shifter, they already knew what kind of havoc someone like that could cause.

Ed, Al, Hughes and Armstrong were allowed in for the debriefing but Winry had to remain outside. They had no real reason to distrust her but the fewer people who knew this kind of information the better. The actual debriefing more or less consisted of the four of them telling their point of view of what happened. To Ed it was just one boring, and ego bruising, recap but Mustang took in every word like it was the most vital piece of information in the world. The Colonel was silent through most of the report, asking only one or two questions, none of which went to Ed or Al. Once the four had finished Mustang only nodded before speaking.

"I'll need to discuss this further with Major Armstrong and Lt. Colonel Hughes." He said. "Fullmetal, you and your brother are dismissed. Once the two of you are patched up report back to me. You're not going to be much use to us in that condition." The insult worked and instead of questioning why he and his brother we being dismissed so offhandedly Ed just huffed and began guiding/pulling his brother towards the door.

"Come on Al." Was the only thing he said.

"But brother….." Al said. Trying to use reason proved useless as Ed led them out of the office and slammed the door behind them.

"Idiotic, self centered…." Ed grumbled. While Winry sighed at Ed's childish attitude Hawkeye stayed focused on business.

"There's a workshop not far from the main lab to take care of any broken equipment. It should have everything needed to replace your automail. If it doesn't I'm sure we won't have a problem getting what you need."

"Well my arm isn't going to fix itself." Ed remarked, calmer now that his mind was on something else. "And I'm getting kind of tired of lugging you around you tin can." He said to Al with a small smile.

"Well I _can_ walk on my own." Al responded with mock indignation. He tried to take a step forward on his own but almost lost his balance and had to brace himself on the wall. "Just not very well." He added sheepishly.

"Come on, I'll give you a hand." Ed said as he went to support his brother again.

"No no, you don't have to." Al insisted. "I think I'm getting the hang of it." Pushing himself off the wall he managed to take two steps before his uneven legs threw off his balance off again. In actuality he now had walls close by so when he did have trouble he could just lean against them instead of crashing to the ground. Seeing that Al was determined to do this on his own Ed just shrugged his shoulders and turned to Hawkeye.

"Lead the way Lieutenant, you know this place better then us." Hawkeye said nothing and began to lead them through the corridors of the castle, walking slowly to accommodate Al's limp and waiting patiently when he needed to regain his balance. One of the times Al had come close to falling flat on his face and Ed was about to suggest he start helping his brother again when another voice spoke up.

"So you're the two alchemy brats. Not very impressive are you?" All four turned, in Ed's case almost whirled, towards the sound of the voice. Ed was about to snap at the person who had just insulted them but when he saw who had said it surprise made him shut up. Even with all they had experienced in the last few hours it was still a shock to be looking at a blue skinned, yellow-eyed yet still pretty woman. It left them all a bit tongue tied, except for Hawkeye, who frowned and narrowed her eyes. "Nice to see you again to." Mystique snidely remarked.

"How long have you been standing there?" Hawkeye asked flatly, ignoring the remark.

"I just got here actually." Mystique answered. "I've been looking all over for those two." She pointed at Ed and Al. "The Colonel wants to see them right away."

"We just finished talking with the Colonel, and we'll talk again when we're ready." Ed almost growled. Mystique glanced at him and smiled in amusement.

"Oh not _that_ Colonel." She replied with a knowing smile. "The other one." Ed looked at her stupidly for a second before the conversation back on the train came back to him. Before he could say anything Hawkeye did.

"I don't think the boys should meet with him so soon. After what happened in Reesembol…"

"Don't worry he's already taken care of that." Mystique interrupted. "There won't be any more problems, on our end at least." When she saw that Hawkeye was about to say something else she cut her off again. "Besides. Last time I checked Colonel and Major beat Lieutenant any day of the week." Hawkeye was silent but continued to glare at the other woman.

"I trust Colonel Mustang has already approved of this?" She finally asked, hoping that the threat of being reported would make her hesitate.

"No." Mystique replied. "I don't think permission would be needed just to talk to them. But you can go ask if you want. In the meantime these two are late for an appointment." She turned towards the Elrics. "And he doesn't like to be kept waiting." Hawkeye started to say something but Ed waved her off.

"Don't worry about us Lieutenant. If we can handle one Colonel we can handle another." He said casually. Hawkeye wasn't so sure about that.

"Their safety.." She began.

"Is already taken care of." Mystique answered. "He's already dealt with Pryo and Sabertooth and should be dragging Juggernaut over the coals right about now. She can come along as a witness if you want." She added, pointing at Winry.

"I.." The surprised girl started

"Absolutely not!" Hawkeye said, forcefully but calmly. It was bad enough sending Ed and Al there as weakened as they were but a civilian…

"I'll take responsibility for this Lieutenant." Ed spoke up. "That way I get all the blame instead of you. And Winry doesn't have to come if she doesn't want to but since we're all in this together it would kind of stink to break us up now." He added with a smile. Hawkeye was silent for a moment. Ed technically was her superior officer but he was needlessly putting all three of them in danger.

"Look, if Magneto wanted something done to these brats it would have happened already." Mystique said, clearly running out of patience. "So why don't run along like a good little girl and stop wasting my time."

"It's okay Lieutenant, we'll be fine." Al said confidently. Hawkeye wished she could share his confidence. "You and the Colonel might worry about us doing this, but you really don't have to be concerned." Al's voice and body language didn't betray anything but he did give Hawkeye a very important message. Colonel Mustang needed to be told of this right away, she realized, and standing here arguing wouldn't accomplish that.

"You're sure about this?" She asked Ed sternly.

"Yep." Ed answered simply. Hawkeye turned her attention towards Winry.

"They might have the final decision if they go but you do not." She told her. "A civilian should not be so deeply involved in such a matter. And since personal feelings would cloud the judgments of some…" She glanced over at Ed and Al, who looked back in surprise. "I'm taking it under my authority to tell you not to go."

"Not if I tell you she can." Mystique said. "Now that I think about it this kind of involves her to so she should come along." She added with an innocent smile. Hawkeye glared at her but said nothing. Truthfully she had expected the mutant to do something like that. If for no other reason then just to make her angry. And she was, not because of the snub but because the mutant was willing to put Winry in danger just to make her look bad.

"If you think that is what's necessary." She replied, still sounding clam and collected. Mystique's smile faltered as she realized she wasn't going to get a rise out of the Lieutenant.

"Yes I do." She answered. Without waiting for a reply or salute from Hawkeye she turned to the others. "Follow me." She said and began walking. Ed and Al started to follow. Winry hesitated for a moment before she started walking. Hawkeye turned around and started back towards Mustang's office.

As the three of them followed Mystique none of them spoke. They either didn't want to be overheard or weren't exactly comfortable talking with her. Al kept on glancing in the mutant's direction, feeling like something was off (more then usual anyway) and he couldn't put his finger on it. Eventually Mystique caught him looking.

"See anything you like?" She asked him sweetly. Al's 'eyes' widened in embarrassment and he lost his balance. He would have gone face first into the ground if he hadn't caught himself at the last minute. Standing back up much faster then he should have been able to he began waving his arms in front of him as if to ward off an attack.

"NO!!..…I mean…uh….!!….!!… It wasn't what…!!!….." The more Al talked the more embarrassed he became. Mystique seemed to be amused at his squirming while Ed and Winry were giving him baffled, and suspicious, looks. Fortunately his embarrassed shouts were drowned out by an even louder bellow.

"You've got to be joking!!!!" The noise came from a room only slightly farther down the hall they were in which, to their surprise, they stopped in front of. "Come on that's not fair!!! I only roughed them up a little!!!" There was no answer to the shouting voice, who they recognized as Juggernaut. There were several seconds of silence before a series of ground shaking tremors started up. The doors to the room opened and Juggernaut came stomping out, clearly annoyed. He took one look at the group and growled, making everyone but Mystique think he was about to attack them. Instead he just gave them a sneer, crossed his arms and began leaning against the wall. The wall looked like it was in danger of collapsing from the strain but it didn't matter to Juggernaut who ignored both it, and everything else around him.

"Well? Are you going in or not?" Mystique's voice snapped their attention away from the sulking giant and to the situation at hand. The three of them started to go in but Mystique blocked Winry. "Only you two. She'll have to wait out here." Ed gave her a suspicious looks. "Oh don't worry she'll be fine. Isn't that right big guy?" She asked Juggernaut. The only response she got was an annoyed grunt. Ed and Al looked from Mystique over to Juggernaut. Whatever had gone on in there had made Juggernaut more subdued and Mystique was second in command, which meant if she talked, he'd listen. Ed hoped it was that way at any rate.

"You going to be okay Winry?" Ed asked. At this point it did seem, barely, that she wouldn't be in any danger. On the other hand if she didn't want to stay out here with these two he'd find a way to let her come with them, regardless of what the mutants thought.

"I don't think standing here for a few minutes seems all that dangerous." Winry said nervously. "It's not like that guy with fangs is out here." She added with a nervous laugh. That was true. If Sabertooth was anywhere in the area there would be no way they'd leave Winry alone. And oddly enough they felt slightly better that she was in the presence of the one guy who had been able to handle Sabertooth without a problem.

"We won't be long." Al promised as they went into the room and the doors closed behind them. That they seemed to close all by themselves was a bit spooky and made Winry a bit more nervous.

"Well now that that's done I've got other things to do." Mystique announced out of the blue. "You'll keep a close eye on her, right?" She asked Juggernaut, who didn't say anything. Taking that as a yes she turned and began walking off.

"But…I thought you…" Winry stammered as the Mystique walked on, not even responding to her. Now she really had a reason to be nervous. Like Ed and Al she knew that Mystique was higher up the ladder then Juggernaut and thought the blue woman would stick around to keep him in line. Though he hadn't threatened her in any way the thought of being left alone with someone who could crush metal with his bare hands, and without the use of alchemy, was not a pleasant thought. Suddenly she was a lot less sure about standing here not being dangerous. As she turned back towards the source of that feeling she couldn't help but feel a lot smaller then she had a second ago. Then again this guy made even Major Armstrong feel a lot smaller then usual. Juggernaut shifted his gaze towards her and Winry realized she had been staring.

"What?!" The armored behemoth asked in annoyance.

"Oh….nothing." She answered with an obviously fake, nervous looking smile and an even more nervous sounding laugh. Juggernaut grumbled something unintelligible and started looking down the hallway. Winry sighed in relief and began wishing those two would hurry up.

Inside the room the first thing Ed and Al had noticed was that they were in a library. The second thing they noticed was the sound of the doors closing behind them, to which both whirled around to see what had moved them. They weren't attached to any ropes or wires and no one had been near them so….

"The famous Elric brothers." A voice said from behind them. Turning back around they saw a round table covered with open books and file folders in a disheveled but organized pattern. On the opposite side of the table a man wearing some kind of odd looking uniform who was currently reading one of the books. To the side of what he was reading was an equally odd looking and dark colored helmet. Now that he knew he had the brother's attention he looked up from what he was reading. "Please, come in and sit down." He motioned towards two chairs. Ed glared at the man for trying to be friendly after what his men had done but for Al's sake he led his brother over and the two sat down.

"So what did you drag us down here for?" Ed asked bluntly

"Brother." Al almost scolded. They might not like him but Al didn't think making him an enemy was such a good idea. Magneto's expression didn't change at Ed's disrespectful tone.

"I see that your distain for authority was not exaggerated." Magneto remarked.

"Yeah well after what your guys did I don't feel like being very respectful." Ed sneered.

"They disobeyed my orders and have been accordingly dealt with for their actions. They will not give you any trouble again." Magneto replied. Ed snorted in response.

"One of them almost kills Al and I'm supposed to believe that?" He asked.

"Your brother was in no real danger." Magneto responded. Ed glared at the man. "If I had not told Juggernaut about the blood seal he may very well have killed him." Now both of them were looking at him with stunned expressions, even though Al didn't have a real face.

"How did you…" Al started to ask.

"I make a point of gathering any information that might be useful in the future." Magneto answered simply. "On the subject at hand," He continued, cutting off any more questions they might have had. "Juggernaut has been reprimanded for his actions and will serve out his punishment just as Pyro and Sabertooth will."

"With what, a slap on the wrist?" Ed remarked sarcastically.

"Pyro has been relieved of his duties, his weapon, and is helping with the clean up of the laboratory, by hand. Sabertooth is currently residing in a cell on one of the castle's lower levels, still bound by your brother's creative restraints. He will not be released until I see fit."

"And what about Juggernaut? He's still walking around like nothing happened." Ed pointed out angrily.

"Yes, but that is part of his punishment." Magneto replied. "Until you both regain your full abilities he will serve as bodyguard for the two of you and your mechanic."

"NO!!" Ed shouted, slamming his fist onto the table. "We don't need his protection, or yours!!" Magneto's face didn't change during Ed's outburst and after he was finished he glanced at Ed's missing arm.

"You might want to reconsider that last statement my young friend." He said. Ed growled and unconsciously grabbed his shoulder. "Even if you do not like it for the time being I am still your superior officer so there will be no further argument." A vein in Ed's forehead began to bulge and opened his mouth to start shouting when Magneto cut him off. "You may air your grievance with Colonel Mustang if you want but I do not believe he will take your side in the matter. In your current state you are almost helpless and I can provide better protection then your own alchemists."

"And just who said we were helpless!?!?!?!!" Ed shouted as he stood up. Al could only look on helplessly as Ed's temper started getting the better of him again.

"Mr. Elric, please sit down." Magneto said calmly, but sounding like a teacher that was losing his patience. Ed, on the other hand, completely lost his.

"I DON'T…..!!!!"

"I said _sit down_." Magneto said, now actually sounding like a teacher that had to discipline a student. Ed didn't get a chance to respond to that one as he suddenly felt something grab the automail part of his shoulder and began pushing down. Whatever it was didn't quite throw him back into the chair but it was hard enough that he landed with an 'Ommmph' "Now, are you going to act in a reasonable manner or with the maturity of a small child?" He had chosen those words so Ed would answer immediately one way or another. And to no one's surprise he chose the second option.

"WHO'RE YOU CALLING SMALL?!?!" He bellowed as he stood up so quickly his chair was knocked over as he tried to leap over the table. Tried being the operative word since his left foot seemed to be glued to the floor. As a result he fell forward and landed face first on the table with a loud THUNK. The jolt was enough to put most of his temper back in check but now he had something else to be angry about. "What that hell?!?" He shouted as he sprang back up and began to pull on his left leg as hard as he could. He made absolutely no headway but that didn't stop him from pulling.

Magneto and Al watched Ed struggle and when it became apparent that Ed wouldn't stop Al looked over at the man he knew was responsible for it. Magneto just watched as Ed continued his futile efforts for little longer before he finally spoke.

"I did not call you down here just so you could embarrass yourself and your brother Mr. Elric." Ed stopped pulling on his leg and glared at Magneto. "If you're willing to calm down and listen I'm sure you will be interested in what I have to say."

"Ed, I think we should at least hear him out." Al said. Ed suddenly forgot about his stuck leg and gave his brother a look that said 'Whose side are you on anyway?!?!?' "You were the one that started this." Al reminded him. Ed looked on in surprise for second before he scowled. _Technically_ Al was right. Magneto hadn't done anything before Ed had but was it his fault that he couldn't stand guys with high and mighty attitudes?!?! Realizing that it was either listen or not be able to move Ed turned towards Magneto.

"Two minutes. If we don't like what we hear by then we leave." Ed told him bluntly.

"Fair enough." Magneto agreed. Ed felt the force holding his leg in place vanish, and now able to move again set his chair back up and sat down in it.

"We're listening." He said, sounding sure he wouldn't hear anything worth listening to.

"Since you insist that I get right to the point I will." Magneto began. "Through their current actions and historical information I have managed to obtain," He motioned toward the collection of books and folders. "I have recently come to the conclusion that your government cannot be trusted."

"It took you that long to figure it out?" Ed asked with a cynical laugh.

"Believe me, this was no surprise." Magneto replied, ignoring the laugh. "Colonel Mustang and those he commands do seem have some amount of integrity…" Ed gave a snort of laughter at that thought. "but it is now apparent that, like in my world, he is the exception when it comes to humans."

"So does that mean you're going to start fighting the State?" Al asked. It was a scary thing to think about. If they were holding back at Reesembol he really didn't want to know about what real fighting would be like. The serious look on Ed's face told he thought the same thing.

"No I am not." Magneto answered, much to their relief. "I gave my word I would assist the State in return for a homeland for my own people. Because of their treachery I now believe that even if they were to follow through on their part of the bargain it would be far from a peaceful coexistence. As such I have decided to remain in service to the State until my own world is able to find us. Since it would not be worth the time or effort to bring reinforcements here and directly confront the State we will simply leave, depriving them of the advantage they so wish to have."

"What about the X-Men." Al asked, thinking about what would happen if the State managed to capture them. "You'll just leave them here?"

"I'll not leave my mutant brethren, even those who are my enemies, here to deal with the likes of your government. I would not hesitate to kill them in battle but I will not stand by and let them be used as laboratory experiments." Magneto answered. Apparently he did have some idea of what would happen.

"Boy you're all heart." Ed remarked sarcastically. "And you still haven't said what this has to do with us."

"I simply wish to give you the opportunity to come with us." Magneto answered. That earned him a pair of dumbfounded looks. "Your talents are quite unique, even for your own world. On mine those who have such gifts but are still completely human are very rare, almost non-existent. But a human with powers as great as any mutant, obtained only by learning and practice…."

"Would make a great little addition to your band of thugs." Ed interrupted.

"Would provide a great leap forward in the advancement of mutantkind." Magneto corrected. "Introducing alchemy will help create what you might call surrogate mutants. They will not be Homo-Superior but they will not accepted as normal humans either. However since they showed a willingness to evolve I will make sure they are welcomed within mutant circles. Practicing alchemy is more then likely to be stigmatized but there will be large numbers of people who would chose to do so. More would recognize the plight of mutants…"

"Putting you at the top of an even bigger heap with fewer enemies then you have now." Ed finished angrily. "Sorry but we're not interested in helping someone's selfish ambitions. We do enough of that unintentionally with Mustang. Let's go Al, I've heard enough." He said as he began to stand up.

"Fighting for the survival and advancement of my people is hardly what I would call selfish. And I do not think you are in any position to lecture to _me_ about such things." Ed stopped and fixed the man with an angry stare. "You joined the military not out of patriotism or sense of duty to the people, but simply so you could have access to their vast resources. Resources you need finding an item that you would _not_ need had you not only been thinking about yourselves," He glanced over to Al. "instead of what consequences might occur."

"What we did was wrong." Ed said slowly, staring at the floor. "We've paid for our sins and now we're trying to set them right." His raised his head, looking at Magneto with eyes filled with anger and guilt. "And what gives you the right to judge what we were trying to do?!!" He yelled pointing an angry finger at the mutant leader. "You have no idea….!!!!"

"I know more about that then you can even imagine." Magneto answered calmly but with new intensity in his eyes. Ed stopped mid sentence, surprised by Magneto's words and demeanor. "Not that long ago another mutant came to me asking for my assistance. In return he promised to bring back someone very dear to me that I had lost. I agreed to work with him, but only because the plan he needed me for was nothing more then absolute insanity and I needed to stop him. I knew he would not follow through on his offer, and I knew he would try to kill me when I was no longer needed. But in the back of my mind I knew he _could_ do what he claimed and held onto the smallest bit of hope that he would, despite what I knew to be true." Ed was stunned by the revelation, and by the fact that the dead could be brought back to life on Magneto's world. If he wasn't lying that is.

"Who was it?" Al asked so quietly that they almost couldn't hear him. When they turned their heads to look at him he asked again, louder but still very quietly. "Who did he say he would bring back?" Magneto was silent, debating whether he should tell them.

"My wife." He finally answered. "That does not put me in quite the same position as the two of you, but you see my point." Ed and Al exchanged glances, thinking almost identical thoughts. If they had been given that same offer, if their mother could be brought back and they knew it could be done successfully, would they? Magneto didn't say what the other mutant was doing but would they have said yes regardless of what it was, what might have happened and who might have suffered? The scary thing was if it had happened before their own resurrection attempt there was a very good chance they would have.

"That doesn't change anything." Ed finally said. "We'd only be helping to create more death and suffering by helping you."

"By helping me you would only be increasing the ranks of my own kind and diminishing the ranks of those who would do us harm."

"And how can you do that?" Ed asked. "I can probably teach people about alchemy but that doesn't mean they'd be able to do what I can."

"Allow me to worry about that." Magneto replied. "All you would need to do is let me study how your alchemy works and let me try and duplicate it."

"Sorry but being someone's lab rat doesn't sound like it would do us much good." Ed replied angrily. This time he did stand up and started to help Al to his feet.

"I would not allow you to be treated as a lab animal, no more then I would allow my fellow mutants to be. You and your brother would be quite safe." Magneto assured them. Ed ignored him and turned Al towards the door. "Of course I am neglecting equivalent exchange. It would be foolish of me to think you would give your help on my request alone, so I am willing to offer something in return."

"You don't have anything we want." Ed sneered without turning around.

"Actually I can give you exactly what you have been seeking." Magneto answered.

"Oh sure, you just happen to have the philosophers stone in your pocket?" Ed asked, laying the sarcasm on thick. "Or maybe that stone from your world that they were after."

"I do not posses that gem, nor the philosophers stone you have been hunting for." Magneto replied, taking Ed's sarcasm in stride. Ed just gave an 'I told you so' snort and reached for the door handle. "What I am offering is what you need the stone to restore." Ed's hand froze just as he was about to grab the handle. He didn't turn around, not wanting to give Magneto a chance to convince them but unable to walk away from a statement like that. Al, on the other hand, did turn around to confront Magneto on that claim

"That's impossible." Al stated. "You said you don't even have alchemy where you come from."

"It would not be needed for something such as this." Magneto answered. "With the technology I posses I could give your brother back his arm and leg, and your body…"

"SHUT UP!!" Ed shouted, still facing away from Magneto. "Don't ever say anything like that!! Al's body is gone, and you just can't act like you can get it back like it was nothing!!! You don't have any right!!!" He knew Magneto was just trying to play on his emotions to get him to agree and it had him on the verge of tears.

"I would not be able to get his original body back, and I will not claim that I can." Magneto replied, seeming to understand Ed's outburst. "What I can do is create a new one for him." Ed stood so stiff he looked like he was at attention. "I could not create it from nothing of course. But if I was provided with just a bit of genetic material, a few strands of hair, some drops of blood, I would be able to create a body exactly the same as the one he has lost. Transferring his soul will be up to you." Ed's breathing became heavier as his anger built up.

"You're lying." He accused Magneto. "Not even alchemy…."

"As I told your brother, I shall not need it." Now Ed did turn around, furious. He was promising miracles but stated that he would not even need basic science to accomplish them. "My technology is almost a hundred years advanced beyond your own." He said before Ed had a chance to lash out. That statement managed to shock Ed into a calmer state.

"A hundred…" Ed and Al almost stammered simultaneously. The shock quickly wore off as they realized something. A hundred years in the advancement of alchemy just might give Magneto the ability to do what he claimed he could. But without it they couldn't imagine how even a hundred years could make a difference. Even after seeing Nightcrawler's radio they were convinced alchemy played _some_ part in their technology, even if they didn't call it alchemy. How else could have it been so advanced?

"But it wouldn't matter." Al said, giving voice to their thoughts. "Without alchemy it would be impossible to do anything like that, no matter how much time you have."

"On the contrary. From what I've read in your scientific journals I'm convinced that it is the absence of alchemy that allowed us to advance so far." It almost sounded like a jab to both alchemy in general and to the two brothers in particular. But it was only a simple statement of fact on Magneto's part and even if he had meant it as an insult the Elrics would probably still not become angry and just look at him like he was nuts….like they were doing now. Now that he knew he had their complete attention he continued. "I will admit you are ahead of my own world in some areas for this time frame but I do not believe it will last."

"But how?" Al asked, sounding like he couldn't believe what he had just heard. "All the things that alchemy can do…" He left the sentence hanging, waiting for a response. Magneto gave him one.

"Will make scientific progress as a whole stagnate." He answered. "And to a point, already has." He added, picking up one of the books he had been reading. "Scientific advances that were made by this point in my world have not even come close to fruition in yours, physics, aeronautics, even some types of genetics. Alchemy has allowed you to make advances decades ahead of my own world's time line true, but it also keeps you where you are now." Now the brothers were completely confused. If alchemy had put them ahead how could it hold them back? "There is no reason to strive and create improvements to something when alchemy can give you what you need to make it as it was in an instant. There will be no need to look for other options to a scientific problem when alchemy will give you the answer. In turn new ways of thinking and new scientific advancements will not come to pass." He explained as he put the book down.

"And what can your science do that's so great?" Ed asked, annoyed more on a professional level then personal.

"The best way to answer your question is with one of my own." Magneto replied. "How old do you believe I am?" He asked.

"Old enough to be a fossil." Ed sneered, at the same time thinking. {What the hell sort of question is that?!} He almost thought Magneto was kidding but the mutant leader didn't respond and was patiently waiting for a real answer.

"You don't look that much older then Colonel Mustang." Al said. After thinking about it for a second Ed found himself agreeing. Even though all his hair was gray and his eyes looked like they belonged to a much older person Magneto appeared to be no more then a few years older then Mustang. Al's answer seemed to amuse Magneto because for the first time in the conversation there was slight smile on his face.

"I am well over seventy." He told them. Al's 'eyes' looked like they were bugging out of his head and Ed had a deer in headlight type of look. It wasn't something they would be surprised with a Homunculus or with a transferred soul like Al's. While they were sure Magneto was no Homunculus…. "Yes this is the body I was born with, and no I do not posses the healing abilities of Sabertooth or Wolverine." He said, guessing at what their next question might be as well as something they didn't consider. "The science of my world granted me a second lease on life to carry on with my work, and it could grant both of you the same lease as well."

Ed knew he shouldn't accept any deals. Even if Magneto could do what he claimed, and Ed still had trouble believing that he could without alchemy, it would further his own ends. Ends that Ed didn't really want to be a part of. Still…if there was a chance he could return Al to normal….

{No.} Ed told himself. {What he wants us to do wouldn't be worth it.}

"I understand your hesitation about doing what I ask but unlike here you will be doing something for the greater good." Magneto said, seeing Ed's indecisiveness. "If your history is any indication that will not be the case if you remain with your military." He picked up a second, thicker book. "One war of conquest after another, unchecked aggression, brutal military tactics…. and whole scale extermination." He added with disgust as he tossed the book aside.

"Ishbal." Ed said quietly. Magneto nodded.

"Of course it is not called an extermination in any of the books, merely the results of the military campaign." He said with utter contempt. "I have seen such _campaigns_ before, and I will never allow it to happen to my own people." He said, giving an almost unnoticeable glance at his left arm. "You would not be forced to fight as they would make you. I will not ask you to take any lives or create weapons for me. I only ask that you give my people a greater chance for survival, so that what happened to the Ishbalans does not happen to us."

Ed remained silent, going over Magneto's words in his head. Armstrong had told them what the X-Men had told him about what Magneto had done in his own world. At first he could only see a madman. Someone who was concerned only with gaining power, that didn't care about who he had to sacrifice or kill to gain that power. The actions of his thugs at Reesembol had reinforced that view and seemed to set it in stone. Now...now that that he had compared himself to the Ishbalans….things had wandered into a gray area. Sure he could be using the comparison to just win their sympathy, but he honestly seemed to believe that his situation was the same. Ed had dealt with liars before and while he'd admit he wasn't the best he thought he could tell when he was being lied to. That meant Magneto was either telling the truth or lying so well it was scary.

Al was considering the same thing. Magneto could very well be lying just to bring them over to his side. The fact that he and the mutants he commanded were so powerful, it made him wonder how Magneto could think they were like the Ishbalans. If anything _they_ seemed like the State Alchemists and the regular humans of their world the Ishbalans. Still, even though Ed might say he was just being naïve or gullible, for some reason he really didn't think the man was lying.

"Naturally I do not expect your answer right away." Magneto said, seeing that they were no longer going to reject the offer outright. "It is a very important decision and should not be made in haste. I will give you until my own world manages to find us. That should provide plenty of time to consider what would be best for the two of you." He made a small gesture with his hand and the doors opened on their own. The brothers watched the doors swing wide, again finding the effect slightly creepy, then looked back to see if Magneto had anything else to say. He wasn't even looking at them, again reading one of the open books in front of him. As they walked back into the hallway both of them realized things had just gotten a lot more complicated.


	9. Plotting and Counterplotting

Chapter 9: Plotting and Counterplotting

As the Elric brothers reentered the hallway neither of them noticed the doors close behind them, still trying to wrap their heads around everything they'd just been told. They had just been offered a chance to get what they had been seeking for so long, for what seemed to be the simplest of things in return, to learn alchemy. But they had also just been offered it by a man who had killed many and endangered more in his quest to have mutants dominate an entire planet. Learning alchemy would benefit them in that goal, something Ed and Al wanted no part of. At the same time Magneto claimed, despite the powers he and his men wielded, that they were in danger of extinction. It also wasn't in their nature to stand by and let an entire race of people die, and that brought them to their current dilemma. Magneto had a certain view about what exactly he was and what he was doing. The X-Men had a completely opposite view but the problem was that both of them seemed to be valid and truthful. That was going to make the decision about accepting the offer even harder then they could have thought.

"There you are!" Winry said as she rushed over, breaking them out of their thoughts. "What took so long?!" She demanded to know.

"Long?" Ed asked. "We weren't even in there for ten minutes. What's wrong?" He asked, noticing that Winry looked a bit on edge and for a split second didn't know what could have done it. Then his face dropped as he remembered another part of their conversation with Magneto. "Oh. That's right." He added as he slowly glanced at Juggernaut, who hadn't moved since they'd entered the library.

"This isn't exactly my idea of a good time either pipsqueak." The still cross giant growled. Ed twitched at the crack about his height but before he could say or (even worse) do something Winry broke in.

"What isn't?" She asked the group. Before anyone could answer she addressed Ed directly. "What's going on Ed?" The second question had a much more anxious and nervous tone to it. She didn't know what exactly had gone on in there but if both Ed and Juggernaut were angry it definitely wasn't a good thing. Accepting that there would be no getting out of this and that it would be better for Winry to hear it from him Ed answered her.

"Winry, say hello to our bodyguard until I can get my arm fixed." He said in an angry, flat, defeated sounding tone, gesturing towards Juggernaut with his flesh hand. Winry's eyes widened at the words. It had been creepy enough to be around the huge mutant for just a few minutes, now he was going to be with them all the time until Ed's arm was repaired…. Her focus darted over from Ed, to Al, then finally to the person in question to see if this was some sort of joke or mistake.

"You think I'd waste my time babysitting the bunch of ya if I didn't have to?" Juggernaut asked angrily when Winry's gaze fell on him. "Far as I'm concerned the sooner the pipsqueak is out of the shop the better."

"So how about we get this over with save everyone a lot a misery?" Ed asked just as angrily. Al put his good hand on his forehead in exasperation at his brother's rash words, while Winry looked at him like he had just gone nuts. Mouthing off to someone like Juggernaut was something no sane person would do. But to everyone's surprise all he did was grunt and step away from the wall he was leaning on, which now had a large indentation on it.

"First intelligent thing you've said pipsqueak. Must be a record." He said as walked over to the group. "Just don't expect me to play so nice when you're patched up." Ed opened his mouth to say something when Winry's hand clamped down over it, followed an instant later by Al's.

"Antagonizing him isn't going to get your arm fixed any faster Ed." Winry told him in a warning tone.

"You said yourself we should get this over with as quickly as possible." Al added. Ed looked from Al back to Winry then back to the source of his annoyance. Deciding that swallowing his pride was a small price to pay to get away from this overgrown bully Ed gave a grunt that sounded like muffled 'all right'. Satisfied that he wasn't going to do anything stupid Al and Winry took their hands away.

"Lets go." Was all Ed said as he started stomping down the hallway. Winry and Al sighed and started to follow, an uninterested Juggernaut taking up the rear. Again they were slowed down by Al's leg and that quickly started to wear on Juggernaut's patience. Seeing the mutant was becoming aggravated Al decide to take a chance and try to talk to him. Unfortunately trying to come up with a conversation that wouldn't aggravate him further was proving to be a hard thing to do. Fortunately Winry saved him from trying to break the ice by hesitantly asking a question of her own.

"Umm. If you're a bodyguard, how come you're not in front of us?" She asked in a small voice. She had been kind of surprised when he had let Ed take the lead and hadn't said anything then just followed behind. Truthfully she expected him to say that he was hoping Ed would take brunt if something happened but again to her surprise he answered with a blunt but truthful answer. Probably out of boredom more then anything else.

"I don't know where the hell he's going so why should I be in front of him?" The answer made Winry realize something else. _She_ didn't know where they were going either.

"Ed…." She started but Ed answered the question before she could get it out.

"Lt. Hawkeye said the workshop was near the lab so we're going down there." He said without turning around. There was silence for several more minutes as they slowly made their way through the castle's corridors before Al managed to work up enough nerve to say something.

"If you don't want to be our bodyguard why didn't you just say no?" He asked cautiously. Juggernaut glared at him so he quickly added. "After what you did in Reesembol it doesn't seem like even Magneto could do anything against you." One of the things the brothers had learned from their travels is that appealing to one's ego was usually more effective then just trying to grind answers out of them. Juggernaut proved to be no exception and even though he sounded annoyed when answered he did answer.

"He _**can't**_. Not once I get going." He said. His voice took an even more annoyed tone as he continued. "But if I don't act like a good boy and baby-sit you brats I'm not going to get paid."

"Paid?" Ed incredulously asked as he turned to face the giant. "You're a mercenary?" The arrogant smirk and the 'heh' Juggernaut gave in reply was all the answer Ed needed. Shaking his head he turned back around. "And here I thought Magneto had some sort of standards with the mutants he let join up." He said mockingly. Despite the apparent attempt Ed wasn't trying to get Juggernaut angry. He could see that being a mercenary was something that Juggernaut was proud off and half expected him to agree with what he said. Heck with this guy he'd probably brag about having no standards about who he sold out to. Ed could let off some steam and Juggernaut would take it as a compliment, everybody wins. Ed truly didn't expect one of those huge hands to grab him from behind and pin him face first to the wall.

"Get this straight peewee." Juggernaut growled in a dangerous voice, ignoring the stunned and horrified looks he was getting from Al and Winry. "I'm _**not**_ a mutant! You call me that again, boss' orders or not, I'm going to rip off that tinker toy leg and feed it to you!" Not giving Ed a chance to respond he took him off the wall and gave him a shove that sent him stumbling forward but thankfully wasn't hard enough to send him to the ground. Once Ed regained his balance he looked at the offended party but the look on Juggernaut's face told all of them that there would be _no_ more discussion on that topic, or any other if they knew what was good for them.

The rest of the walk to the lab was made in a tense silence despite the obvious question on the children's minds. How the heck could Juggernaut have those kinds of powers if he wasn't a mutant? He didn't seem to have any technology helping him, though they had their doubts that even the advanced technology of his world could make him immune to alchemy. Even if technology accounted for his armor, it still wouldn't make his skin harder then metal. He could just be lying about being a mutant but that seemed to be unlikely since, given his powers, why say you weren't something unless you truly were something else. Now they had another enigma to solve, if for no other reason then to satisfy their scientific curiosity.

As they drew near the lab any thoughts any of them, except for Al, were currently having was replaced by an overpowering stench that started wafting towards them from where they were headed. All it took was one whiff to stop Ed and Winry in their tracks. Ed gagged and started coughing, immediately joined by Winry. Al, not having a sense of smell, merely looked on in confusion as the other two were wracked by coughing fits while Juggernaut had a much more subdued reaction. After taking one sniff he frowned and while he looked like he had smelled something unpleasant the disgusted look on his face was the only motion he made.

"Ed!! Winry!! What's going on!?! What's wrong?!?" Al asked, almost panicking. They were coughing and gagging so much they seemed to be in agony. For a terrifying moment he thought the two of them were being poisoned, and Juggernaut's lack of concern seemed to confirm it but then he heard footsteps coming towards them. Thinking that whoever it was had done this to Ed and Winry Al turned towards the sound but to his surprise it was only a small man dressed in filthy clothes and thick goggles hiding his eyes. He wasn't moving in a threatening way and didn't have any weapon that Al could see, so how could he have done any of this?

"What….?!?!?" Ed started but was unable to finish as the stench got stronger and induced another gagging fit. In desperation he put his jacket over the lower half of his face. It didn't filter out the smell entirely but it was enough for him to be able to talk. "Don't tell me _he's_ doing this?!" He was finally able to force out.

"What's wrong with him?!" Winry added, her voice muffled as she held both hands over her nose and mouth to block out the smell. Being the granddaughter of a doctor she knew that when something smelled this bad it was either dead or soon would be. Juggernaut ignored all three of them and spoke to the man directly.

"What the hell do you want Toad?" He asked, sounding disgusted at having to be around him.

"Oh nothing." Toad answered in a tone that implied he didn't notice/care what effect his BO was having on the people around him. "I was just seeing how Pyro was enjoying his new job as janitor. I don't think he likes it very much." He added with a wheezing laugh. "Looks like you're not enjoying your new job either." He said with a wide grin, showing a mouthful of dark yellow teeth.

"Hurk!" Everyone glanced back at Winry, who looked like she was having trouble keeping her stomach down. Truth be told so was Ed. Despite the amount of bloodshed and violence he and his brother had seen Toad's noxious odor, combined with his physical state, was coming close to making him lose his lunch to. He almost did when Toad seemed to have noticed something and walked over to him. Ed pulled back slightly, not wanting to look like he was running away but not wanting to be in such close proximity with this walking sewer. After seeming to examine him closely he finally let out another wheezing laugh.

"What do you know." He said. "They finally found someone shorter then I am." In reality Toad was only one or two inches taller then Ed but always being the 'short man out' it was good feeling to actually be the tall one for once. That feeling didn't last very long as Ed stiffened up and, forgetting about the now overwhelming odor, let go of his jacket and grabbed Toad by the front of this grime covered shirt.

Al and Winry closed their eyes and turned away, knowing that whatever happened next was not going to be pretty.

WHHHAMMM!!!! THWWWAAACCKKK!!! CRRRAAAASSSSHHHHHH!!!!!

The two flinched as they heard the sounds of Ed taking out his frustrations on the diminutive mutant. Finally when the only thing they heard was what sounded like metal clanging to the ground did they open their eyes and look to see what the damage was. It was a unique sight to say the least, even for one of Ed's tantrums. Toads legs were now hanging out of the top one of the many old suits of armor that lined the castles halls, the rest of him stuffed inside it. They saw no attempt from him to get out, not even to tip it over as pieces were falling off it. In fact the way there wasn't even any sound coming from inside the armor told them he'd probably be there for a while and have the mother of all headaches when he finally woke up. Meanwhile Ed wasn't sticking around admire his handiwork. As a matter of fact he was now running down the hall to escape the smell he suddenly remembered existed. Winry ran after him, more to get away from the smell herself then to keep him from doing anything else. Al and Juggernaut just watched them go before turning back to the still unmoving Toad. Al briefly wondered if Juggernaut would help his teammate but the only thing he did was give an uninterested grunt then started following Ed and Winry. Al began to consider if he should try to help Toad out of the armor but decided it would probably be better to leave him there and began to hobble after the others.

Ed's altercation with Toad wasn't the only example of the problems facing both sides. As they were set on restoring Ed and Al to full strength another side was set on making sure their own plans came to pass in spite of the massive setback they had just been dealt.

"An entire company of our best soldiers, defeated in a matter of minutes by only six individuals, with the help of three of our own." The voice of Fuehrer Bradley said over the phone in a calm but clearly annoyed voice. "Even with the help of the mutants they were still able to do nothing until one of their most powerful took the field." On the other end of the line Lt. Colonel Archer choose his next words carefully. He had assured the Fuehrer that using one of their most highly trained units, along with backup from the Brotherhood's mutants, would more or less guarantee the X-men's capture. Unfortunately what he hadn't counted on was the apparently traitorous actions of Elric brothers and their commanding officers.

"The actions of those under Colonel Mustang's command were an unforeseen complication." He finally answered. "But if anything it shows the importance of getting mutants of our own into the fold. If people like the Flame and Full Metal alchemist are capable of turning on the State we'll need every resource we can procure."

"Of course neither of them have turned on the State." Bradley corrected. "They were confronting a rogue military unit that decided not to listen to the orders of their superiors. That will be the official stance of the State and myself." Archer frowned at the statement. If they were going to go with deniability he might be in the line of fire for even suggesting that particular choice of action in the first place. "On the other side of the coin you do make a valid point. The incident in Reesembol shows what a valuable resource mutants would make for us. As such it would be prudent to track down the X-Men and take them into protective custody for their own good." Archer almost breathed a sigh of relief. If they were still going to move against the X-Men the number of people thrown to the wolves would be kept to a minimum. That meant people higher up on the chain would be spared since they still had something to offer to the X-Men's pursuit and apprehension.

"I can have a team assembled and ready to move in less then twelve hours." He assured his leader. Since he had the most knowledge of mutants in the State military outside of Mustang and Bradley, combined with the fact that almost no one knew of his involvement, it would make him the prefect candidate to personally lead the efforts in their capture. He already had a roster of alchemists and black ops personnel in his head that could be great use in this endeavor and all he needed was the go ahead.

"That won't be necessary." Bradley replied. "I know of people who are much more…suited for handling unique situations like this. Once I learned of the mutant's existence I've had them on standby in case complications such as this arose. They are quite reliable and I don't foresee any future trouble in the X-Men's capture." On the other end of the line Archer frowned again. It wouldn't be the first time the State turned to bounty hunters and mercenaries, cover the money trail well enough and you'd never know who hired them in the first place. The State would be clear of any wrongdoing but it also meant that Archer would be cheated out of the glory, and a more then likely promotion, of adding such powerful weapons to the government's arsenal. But he was also a soldier and that meant he could only do one thing.

"Yes sir." He sated, keeping his voice professional to hide any frustration.

"Don't worry, your part in this isn't over quite yet." Bradley said, knowing full well what Archer really thought of the news. "Though at this moment for the sake of security that part cannot be known to you now. You'll be receiving orders shortly and I want them followed to the letter, things will become clear soon enough."

"Understood sir." Was Archer's only response and satisfied that his subordinate did understand Bradley broke the connection. He then started dialing a number one of his spies had brought him some time ago. One that had yet to serve any purpose but now he could not see a more opportune time to use it. It would bring a certain factor of risk involved in the successful outcome of the mission but X-Men had proven themselves very formidable and he was convinced that every card needed to be played, even the wild ones.

Elsewhere in the country a phone began to ring at a particularly shady bar, where it was all but ignored by its usual crowd of drunks and rowdies. However there were several pairs of eyes who watched intently as the bartender walked over the ringing annoyance and grabbed the receiver.

"Devil's Nest." He growled at whoever was on the other end. After listening for a second he gave an angry "Never heard of him." He was about to slam down the phone when whoever was talking to him said something to make him stop. "I already told you whoever that is he's never been…." He was cut off by the other person again but this time instead of getting angrier his face took on a noticeably shocked expression. "How did you…..You can't know!!…." Finally whoever it was said something that turned the bartender pale and move to one of the patrons sitting a couple of stools down from the phone. "It's for you." He said quietly and handed the phone to him. The patron took the phone without a word and ignored the bartender once he had it.

"Hello?" He answered pleasantly, despite the fact it was clear through the bartender's actions that he didn't want anyone to know he was here. After listening for a moment he spoke again. "Sorry but I don't see any reason for me to…." The speaker on the other end spoke some more and the man's voice took a bored tone. "That certainly does make things a bit more interesting for you doesn't it? But I still don't see why I should concern myself with..." The speaker spoke again and this time the man began to smile as he listened. When he answered his voice had a much more interested tone to it. "You don't say? Exactly the same as me? Well now it looks like this will be fun after all. You've got yourself a deal…..Alive? Very well but I can't guarantee there'll be that much left to collect. Just tell me where and when. I'm on my way now." He set the phone down on the bar and got off his stool.

"Something we should know about?" A voice asked from a crowd of people at a darkened booth in the corner.

"No not really." The man answered as he walked over to the door. "It just seems some little upstart has decided to show he's better using my techniques so I'm going to go see how good he really is."

"You mean kill him." The second voice stated.

"Of course." The first man answered as he began to leave. "We can't have someone stealing from me now can we? And as everyone knows, accidents do happen." He added as he shut the door behind him. A split second later the phone he left on the bar, which no one had made any effort to get, exploded with the force of a small hand grenade.

While the second strike against the X-Men was being finalized something that would have more far reaching consequences was occurring at the sight of the first. As Jacob's shattered yet still intact company was limping on board the train that would take them back to Central few were actually paying attention to their surroundings. The combination of their utter defeat at the hands of only a small group of individuals along with the injuries almost all of them had received made sure their minds were elsewhere. If most had been paying attention they would have noticed a flash of light from behind the main station house. Though most did hear a sound similar to that of a muffled explosion it was just assumed it was part of all the machinery around them. As it was only one man, a lieutenant, noticed both at once. Figuring it was nothing important but not wanting to take chances after the battle with the X-Men the lieutenant walked around the back of the building, and as soon as he stepped out of sight a second, brighter flash erupted.

"YAA!!" Between the larger flash and the lieutenant's scream there was no way anyone could not notice something happening. Several more soldiers, weapons at the ready, ran behind the building nervously wondering if this was some sort of revenge sneak attack by the escaped alchemists. Turning the corner they saw only the lieutenant covering his eyes and staggering backwards. What he was staggering back from turned out to be a large patch of ground that had all of the grass burned off of it, leaving only a blackened crater.

"Sir, are you all right?" One of the soldiers asked. "Do you need a medic?"

"No, no I'm all right." The lieutenant answered as he took his hand away from his face and blinked several times to clear up his bleary eyes. "Looks like someone thought it would be cute to leave us a going away present."

"Probably one of those X-Men alchemists" A corporal stated. "I saw one of them throwing things the didn't seem to blow up until he wanted them to. Bet you he was behind this."

"No doubt." The lieutenant agreed. "All the more reason to get out of here, unless we want to run into any other little surprises. Are we on still on schedule corporal? No one seems to want to give me any reports." The corporal involuntarily stood at attention at the lieutenant's words before answering.

"We are sir. Everything should be fully loaded and ready to leave in ten minutes." Was his clipped response. The lieutenant nodded his approval.

"Good. Make a final check to be sure we don't miss anything or leave anyone behind. The Colonel is mad enough already and we can do without any additional screw ups."

"Yes sir!" The soldiers all answered before turning to go complete their task. The lieutenant watched them go, took one last look at the charred ground with a cold glance before making his way towards a gathered group of officers.

"It's about time you got here Lieutenant Thorn. What was the hold up?" Colonel Jacobs snapped before he had even gotten to the group.

"My apologies sir. I was just making sure that everything was in order. Leaving anything to chance now would hurt our ability to confront the X-Men again."

"We're not going after the X-Men." Jacobs growled angrily. "Not yet anyway. Central has other plans for them now. But we'll get our chance…." He stopped and winced before glancing down at his heavily bandaged hand, which was now resting in a sling. "One way or another, we'll get our chance." He glanced around at his gathered officers. "Our official orders are that we will garrison at Central to await new deployment. Until those orders actually arrive I want this unit drilled night and day so when we do get our second chance we not be defeated again. We all saw how the X-Men fought. We will develop counter strategies for all their abilities, this time _without_ relying on Mustang's new alchemists for help. We will show that alchemy does not make them the strongest but bravery, discipline, and planning. Nothing less then total victory will be acceptable. Can I depend on you to bring me that victory?"

"Sir yes sir!" All the officers answered without hesitation. Jacobs nodded and turned to board his car. He didn't see, at the back of his small group of officers, Thorn give an arrogant smirk at the mention of alchemy not making someone the strongest. Oh how much the Colonel would learn….

Back at the castle Ed and his group had finally reached the workshop. There hadn't been much conversation after their encounter with Toad, mostly because everyone was still trying to get over their revulsion. Once they were inside the actual workshop and able to focus on something on else, such as their new surroundings.

The shop itself was fairly large, containing several giant worktables on which various pieces machinery lay in varying states of disrepair. Along one wall was a row of desk-like workstations, complete with mounted magnifying glasses and lights, to deal with smaller, more intricate devices. Ed and Al were able to identify several components from the lab they saw during their previous visit. None of them were looking any better then they had right after the accident, which meant there was bound to be a lot of repair work left to do.

Winry on the other hand was looking at it with the more critical view of a mechanic, she could play around later. Mainly what tools, parts, as well as what materials would be necessary. She quickly determined that she had everything she would need and, to her delight, then some. Now ready to begin she began to walk around the shop picking up the tools and parts she would need.

"All right Ed, up on the table." She said, not even turning around.

"Right." Was Ed's only answer. Winry was in full 'build' mode now. What was he going to do, say no? He took his jacket off and began to look for which table had the least amount of junk on it. What he saw that all of them were piled high with damaged equipment with no room for him to sit down anywhere. "Errr…." He started, not really knowing what to do. Between Al and himself they had two good arms but only three good legs. Al wouldn't be able to maintain his balance and Ed doubted he'd be able to carry some of the things that were piled up, they must have weighed a couple hundred pounds easy. An annoyed sigh from behind Ed interrupted his thoughts and a moment later Juggernaut moved passed him. Walking up to the table closest to Ed Juggernaut casually swept everything off of it in one movement. The result was a series of ear ringing crashes as the equipment fell to the floor, some shattering into even smaller pieces then they were now. Even though they had seen it happen Ed and Al both flinched at the noise, while Winry let out a surprised shriek and threw everything she held up in the air. Even as Ed and Al covered their heads to keep from getting beaned she was whirling around to see who thought it would be funny to scare her like that. Her gaze went from Ed to Al, whose looks of surprise showed their innocence in this one, to the only other person who could have done it.

"What?" Juggernaut asked when he noticed Winry's dirty look. That dirty look changed to shock as she saw just what he had done. While she didn't know just what the machines did she did know that they had to be finely designed and built, almost works of art. And to just casually smash something like that, to her was unimaginable.

"You broke them!!" She wailed, sounding like she was accusing him of murder. Juggernaut did not seem to share her concern.

"Yeah? So what? Wrecking things and people is what I do kid." He retorted. Winry only looked at him, baffled, for a few more seconds before deciding that his head was as hard as his helmet and trying to explain anything would be a waste of time. She settled on just giving him a loud 'humph!' before picking up what she had thrown.

As Ed hopped up on the table he kept a wary eye on Winry, nervous that she'd accidentally take out her frustrations about Juggernaut on him. Fortunately once Winry had stomped over and placed all her things next to Ed she seemed to calm down as she got to business.

"I'm going to have to check the nerve connections to make sure none of them were damaged." She told him gently. She knew this was going to be painful for him. Ed just nodded.

"Do what you have to." He told her and steeled himself for what was coming. Winry sighed sadly and got ready to check the first connection…..

When the door to the shop slammed open, making everyone except Juggernaut jump. Winry dropped what she was holding and Ed was sent crashing to the floor face first.

"Pick up this, move that, connect these." An accented voice they all recognized groused. "Who do they think I am, their personal little Igor?" Everyone, even Ed, turned to see Pyro standing in the doorway, his once colorful costume now covered with grease, dirt and scuff marks. In his arms he was holding what looked like a motor that had a large crack going down the center of it. "And what's all this about?"

"Pipsqeak is getting his tune up." Juggernaut answered before any of the other could.

"Really?" Pyro said before glancing down at Ed. "Not going to get much fixed down there you know."

"Ha…Ha." Ed replied sarcastically as he climbed back up on the table.

"Not much of a sense of humor on that one is there?" Pyro asked as he put the motor on a separate table. After getting a good look at Ed's automail shoulder he spoke again. "Maybe the little lady here left a couple of screws loose or something when she built him the first time." He said with a smirk. That smirk vanished and he hit the deck as a wrench came zipping out of nowhere and almost took his head off. "OI!! What the hell was that for!?" He said as he stood back up and looked in the direction the wrench was going, half expecting to see it stuck in the wall. He turned back and saw that Ed was now wearing the smirk and Winry was glaring at him.

"She has this little thing about people who insult her work." Ed explained, never loosing his smirk. Pryo looked from Winry to Ed, then back again and decided there was only one safe way out of this conversation.

"Sheesh." He said and let it drop. Winry huffed but turned back to Ed, lest she decide to try to imbed something else into Pyro's skull. Fortunately for her, and for Pyro, the task at hand forced her to calm down so she could concentrate.

"Here we go." She said softly and tested the first connection. Ed's face contorted in pain but he was able to grunt and bear it. As Winry tested all the other connections Ed had similar reactions and the others watched in silence until she was finished and gave a relieved sigh.

"Well they're all still working." She announced. That was very good news, now they wouldn't need to perform actual surgery, just a basic rebuild.

"Well that is very encouraging news." A new voice said from the still open door. Everyone looked over to see Colonel Mustang walking in with Lt. Hawkeye and Major Armstrong. "It would be a pity if we had to go through even more trouble because someone carelessly reckless." He added, looking over at Juggernaut.

"I'll do better next time." He promised. Mustang frowned at his reaction but didn't answer it. Instead he fixed his gaze on Pyro.

"Aren't you supposed to be working?" He asked/ordered him.

"Yeah yeah I'm going." Pryo answered started back to the lab. "Guy can't even take five around here without some damn smartass…" Whatever else he had to say was lost in a mumble. Mustang glared after him and after he was sure he couldn't hear them anymore he spoke to the others.

"We're going to have to talk to Fullmetal and Al for a few minutes." He told Winry specifically. "I'm afraid you're going to have to leave for a little while." He turned towards Juggernaut. "Both of you. This concerns only the two of them." Winry was about to object when Juggernaut spoke first.

"Fine. Anything to get away from the brats." He said and started walking towards the door.

"Just remember you have to keep an eye on Winry while you're out there or else you're out of a job." Ed told him pleasantly. Juggernaut visibly flinched and turned back to glare at him.

"ED!!!" Winry yelled. "You want to leave me alone with that monster?!?! Again?!?"

"He's not going to do anything to you." Ed assured her. "If he does we get to tell his boss he did a lousy job and all that money disappears." He looked back over at him. "And we don't want that do we?" Juggernaut growled and clenched his fists but in the end all he did was look over at Winry.

"Come on." He hissed and gestured for her to follow him. Winry looked at Juggernaut apprehensively, then over to Ed, whose face was filled with confidence. She then started walking tentatively towards the angry giant.

"Don't go too far. We won't be long." Mustang promised her as the two left and shut the door behind them. "Very nice." He commented to Ed.

"Eh it's not that hard to make greedy people do what you say." Ed answered casually.

"Just don't do that very often." Mustang warned. "With a temper like his if you pull that stunt enough times he's going to stop caring about the money." Ed just shrugged. That wasn't something he didn't already know. "Now, I understand you two were involved in some sort of secret chat?" He asked.

As Ed and Al started to tell Mustang about his encounter with Magneto in Central the train containing the 801st pulled into the main station and began to disembark it's passengers. As the troops began to offload their equipment Jacobs walked over to a man with dark hair and a stern face who saluted him then handed him an envelope bearing the Fuehrer's seal. Jacobs removed the paper that was in the envelope and began reading before glaring up at the other man, who kept his face neutral.

Lt. Thorn watched the exchange and once it became clear that no one was paying attention he turned and walked into the back alleys of Central. He didn't get very far before he was confronted by another man in a military uniform and an angry scowl on his face.

"Out for a little walk lieutenant?" He asked menacingly.

"Well…" Thorn started but the other man didn't let him even get started.

"Don't try and lie to me you coward." He warned. "I saw you walk away from the train station, so unless you show me some papers right now that say you need to be somewhere else I'm going to have you thrown in prison for desertion!"

"You have the authority to do that?" Thorn challenged, curiously sounding like he really didn't know. The other man turned bright red at the remark. Before saying anything he grabbed the front of Thorn's uniform with one hand and reached into his pocket with the other.

"You see this smart guy?!" He shouted, waving a silver watch attached to a chain under Thorn's nose. "Do you know what that means?!"

"Ummmm….?" Thorn questioned, again making it sound like a half insult, half honest response.

"I means I'm a State Alchemist you idiot!!" The Alchemist shouted. "This means I can have insubordinate pukes like you imprisoned or shot."

"Really? And I suppose that means you get to go places people like me can't?" Thorn asked, still sounding like he still didn't quite know what he was talking about.

"That's right smart guy." The Alchemist growled. "All the places peons like you only wished you could go." He finished with a tone of superiority.

"Well that does explain things a bit." Thorn replied, not sounding the least bit intimidated by the other man's threats or rank.

"So I guess that makes everything clear?" The Alchemist sneered, now determined to throw Thorn into a cell just for his attitude.

"Oh yes." Thorn replied as he started looking around. Once he was finished he faced the other man. "Very clear." He added as he grabbed the top of The Alchemist's head. Before a response could even be uttered Thorn gave a flick of his wrist and turned the other man's head one hundred eighty degrees with an audible snap. As the body went limp Thorn used his free hand to grab the now dead alchemist's watch and put it in his own pocket. He then calmly went over to a manhole cover, lifted it easily with his free hand, and threw the dead body down into the sewer. After taking another look around to make sure that no one had noticed anything Thorn stuck his hand down into the sewer. There was a flash of yellow light from underground followed by a small wisp of smoke that smelled vaguely of burning meat. Knowing that people wouldn't question a foul smell coming from a sewer Thorn put the manhole cover back and headed towards the end of the alley. Only the person who exited the alley wasn't Thorn but the alchemist he had just killed. After walking down one of the main streets for several minutes and only receiving cursory glances from the people he passed a smile crept onto his face. Infiltration of their scientific archives would be almost insultingly simple.

At the castle meanwhile it was being proven that infiltration to things that are top secret wasn't that hard to begin with. It started out simply enough. As Winry was waiting with Juggernaut for Mustang to finish his questioning of Ed and Al she kept on glancing down towards the doors that lead to main lab, her curiosity piquing on just what was going on in there. That curiosity became overwhelming when she saw a flash through the cracks in the door, accompanied with a loud BANG and almost immediately followed by smoke flowing through those same cracks. Temporarily forgetting about her ill tempered bodyguard she crept over to the door. She could hear muffled shouting and coughing from the inside but couldn't make out what was going on. Her other senses were able to give her a clearer picture. The bang she heard had been loud but not earth shaking so it was doubtful anything large or unstable had exploded. She was also able to ID the smell of burned wiring from the smoke, and that meant something valuable had probably just been lost. Wanting to know just what was going on leaned closer to the door to listen in….

"You going to go in there or not?" A voice asked from behind her, causing her to spring back from the door and whirl around. Oddly enough seeing Juggernaut had snuck on her didn't worry her as much as it normally would have. His uncaring attitude about everything that was going on that didn't involve him meant that he wouldn't rat her out for this little stunt.

"Of course not." She answered and turned back towards the door, her curiosity overriding her fear of Juggernaut. "You can't just go walking into a place like that without permission. You know how much trouble you could get in?" She asked as she leaned back in to put her ear on the door. Juggernaut didn't answer and looked at her strangely, not bothering to point out that doing something like eavesdropping would probably get her into even _more_ trouble. Deciding that it would be more amusing to just leave her alone and see what happened Juggernaut only stood there and watched. Winry seemed to forget he was there as she leaned against the door itself to put her ear up against it…and nearly fell flat on her face as the door swung inward. She was able to remain upright but that entailed taking several large awkward stumbling steps inside the actual lab. When finally able to stop herself and stand straight she saw that she was now the center of attention. The scientists, soldiers recruited to help with the clean up, even Pyro were now all looking at her with questioning and suspicious looks. Winry could feel herself turning red from embarrassment and opened her mouth to try to explain but her mind chose that moment to go blank.

"Didn't we tell you to re-lock the door?!" One scientist yelled at Pyro. Without waiting for an answer he turned to a second, more senior looking scientist. "I told you we should have reposted the guards!"

"And I told you we needed every free hand we could get." Dr. Thomas answered. "Everyone here knows what's going on anyway." He pointed out.

"But she…" The first scientist started, pointing at Winry.

"If he knows, she knows." Thomas interrupted, pointing from Juggernaut to Winry. "Even if she didn't she would have found out sooner or later so it doesn't matter. You know we can't keep a secret in this place anymore." The first scientist gave an unapproving look at the two of them but didn't say anything else. "Good. Now everyone back to work." He ordered. Slowly the workers in the lab went back to their assigned tasks in relative silence. Silence that didn't last long as Winry realized she was safe and got a good look at the advanced equipment around her. In a flash she was darting from place to place, asking questions at a rapid fire rate to whoever was hapless enough to be wherever she decided to stop. Even then she didn't allow them time to answer before dashing off to some other piece of gear that caught her eye.

The ones that weren't caught up in Winry's game of 200 questions watched her go, half amused at the child like enthusiasm she had, half amazed that all the questions she was asking made her sound like she belonged on the engineering team that built the thing. Finally she stopped at one of the towers next to platform itself.

"How did you manage to make something that could withstand so much power being put through it?" She asked as she circled the tower, looking it up and down. "All the wires would melt, the metal to." She added as she stopped at a small access panel and popped it open. "Did you use some new kind of heat sink and wire material?" She asked excitedly as she began poking around inside the tower.

"Uhhh.." Dr. Thomas said, not sure about what he should, or could do. He didn't want the girl inadvertently damaging the equipment but he wouldn't be able to get her away from them either. Not easily anyway. He turned towards Juggernaut, hoping that the person she came in with would have better luck getting her out of here. Juggernaut was still looking at Winry in a slightly baffled way. Watching her zip from place to place in the lab in what seemed to be a blur almost made him wonder if she'd give Quicksilver a run for his money. "Ahem." Thomas said, seeing that Juggernaut wasn't listening. He did hear that and turned to the scientist, who made a 'do something' gesture with both hands. Groaning as he remembered what would happen to his paycheck if anything either happened to or because of Winry while she was in his charge he walked over to the still oblivious mechanic.

"Of course you could have also doubled the wire gauge." Winry said as she was examining a bundle of thick wires, not even noticing Juggernaut's approach. "But if you did both that would mean you could…." Whatever suggestion she had was cut off as a massive hand clamped down on her midsection. To her credit Winry didn't scream but did let out a loud, startled, "EEP!" before feeling herself being hoisted off the ground. One second she was looking at the guts of the tower the next she was staring into Juggernaut's frowning mug. What she could see through his helmet that is.

"Finished?" He asked, though it didn't really sound like a question. Winry gulped loudly before answering.

"Yessir." She managed to squeak out. Juggernaut kept quiet but did start to lower her. What he didn't do was put her down, instead walking out of the lab holding her like a suitcase. Winry didn't offer any resistance, not that it would do her much good anyway, and had to make do with the embarrassment of the situation.

As Juggernaut walked back to the workshop with his new luggage Ed and Al were finishing up telling Mustang and the others about Magneto's offer. Under normal circumstances Ed would have hesitated to say anything about it but at this point he was more willing to trust the Colonel then Magneto. Better the devil you know, if Ed remembered the saying correctly. Mustang listened without saying much, only stopping to ask them about any details they may have missed.

"He's more ambitious then I gave him credit for." Mustang said mostly to himself when they were done. After mulling over what he had been told for a few minutes he spoke again. "Well we don't want to keep him waiting now do we?" He said as he started towards the door. The question seemed to stump Ed and Al as they only looked back at the Colonel in confusion. They had expected Mustang to order them not to even consider it, or at least ask them their opinion, not to just ignore them and confront Magneto.

"Sir, surely it would better if we were to …." Armstrong began but the sight that greeted them when they opened the door made all of them pause. Juggernaut was leaning against the wall, with Winry held in his hand like some sort of bizarre attaché case.

"Good you're done." Juggernaut said when he saw they were leaving, acting like nothing was out of the ordinary. The three State officers looked from him over to Winry, who gave an embarrassed sounding laugh and a small wave. Mustang raised an eyebrow at the scene but Juggernaut didn't appear to be hurting her so he let them pass without saying anything. They stood there a minute longer to make sure he didn't try anything but the only thing he did was set Winry on her feet before moving over to a far wall. Ed and Al rushed over to her, their concerns about Magneto temporarily forgotten, to make sure she was ok. Sure that everything would be all right Mustang led them down the hallway.

"I understand your concern Major but right now waiting wouldn't be in our best interest." He said, picking the conversation back up. Now he could feel the questioning looks of the Major and Lieutenant. "He didn't swear Ed and Al to secrecy about what they talked about, and didn't even try to hide the fact that he talked to them at all. He knew they would tell us what was going on, by order or otherwise. He wants us to know."

"But why would he do that?" Armstrong asked. "Wouldn't it be better if he tried to keep such a thing secret?"

"Normally yes but now it's not viable for two reasons. One is that in a place this small it would be impossible to keep secrets." Mustang explained as they headed toward the library. "Second is if we caught him his deal with the State is null and void and he becomes the enemy so even if Ed and Al wanted to go with him we could force them to stay. He would still be able to take them from us but if he went with force and started killing people I doubt those two would be that willing to cooperate with him. Even if those didn't apply here he still would have done nothing. That's because there's no reason he can see to keep it secret. He already has his arguments ready and is convinced we can't counter them so why bother to hide?"

"Are you sure he'll be thinking that way sir?" Hawkeye asked as they approached the library's doors.

"It's the same thing I would have done." Mustang answered as he opened the doors. Magneto had taken a situation that was quickly deteriorating and turned it into a potential windfall. Using subtle maneuvering of the Elrics into a position where he stood to benefit from their actions as much, if not even more, then the boys themselves would. Mustang had of course used such tactics both on the boys and others but while they did benefit him it was also a benefit to the greater good. That's where he knew Magneto's plan was the weakest. From Armstrong's report and the mutant leader's own admittance his version of the greater good included the deaths of countless people, something Mustang wasn't about to allow to happen without a fight.

Magneto sat at the round table surrounded by books and glanced up when the doors opened. His helmet lay among the books and they got a good look at his face for the first time. Despite his youthful appearance he had the calculating, intense eyes of a war veteran and a hard look on his face that spoke volumes about how he was not one to suffer fools lightly.

"Colonel." He greeted. "Prompt as always I see." He glanced at Mustang's two companions. "Major Armstrong I presume. I've heard quite a bit about you." He said as the three of them entered.

"And I you." Was Armstrong's curt reply, his eyes narrowing.

"I would imagine so." Magneto returned, returning the Major's hard gaze. "But since you have only heard one side it would be unwise to rush to judgment."

"I was raised to give everyone an equal chance to defend themselves and will hold my final judgment until I have heard both sides." Armstrong conceded, crossing his arms across his chest. "Though what I have already heard combined with the actions you've taken have me believing that only one side is needed." He warned.

"Your courtesy is appreciated." Magneto answered. "And I believe what I have to say will make you reconsider that." Armstrong only replied with a low rumbling 'hmmm', conveying that he found that doubtful. With any other conversation with the large man bound to be fruitless at this point Magneto turned his attention back to Mustang. "Judging by the swiftness of your arrival I would have to guess the young Elrics were particularly eager to tell you what we discussed."

"Surprisingly they were, even Ed." Mustang replied as he sat down in the chair opposite of Magneto. "It appears that someone asking him to abandon his duties was enough to get even Fullmetal talking to me willingly."

"I asked him to do no such thing." Magneto countered. "He can resign as an alchemist of the State can he not?

"He can." Mustang answered calmly.

"Then if he so chooses to he would be no longer bound by duties to the government. As such he would be able to leave this country without incident."

"Again true." Mustang agreed. "But I'm not talking about his duties to the State. I'm referring to his duties as an alchemist. I'm sure you've seen the alchemist's credo?"

"'Be thou for the people'" Magneto quoted. "And I'm not sure I see how assisting me would be against that credo. He would be helping people, people that need it very badly."

"Perhaps they do but he has the potential to be a much greater help by staying here."

"That is where we disagree Colonel." Magneto replied. "Yes Mr. Elric can do great things here, and already has." He added, nodding towards the collection of papers in front of him. "But by working with me and my people he will be helping to ensure their survival, not just their peace and prosperity. He would be working towards the greater good."

"That's where you're wrong." Mustang told him bluntly, earning a look of surprise from the mutant leader. "You think what you're working for is part of the greater good, and on the whole you might be correct. But your means for getting there are against everything Ed and Al believe in."

"They do not believe in someone fighting for their right to exist?" Magneto asked in a cold tone.

"That they do believe in." Mustang answered, remaining calm while he could feel Armstrong and Hawkeye tensing up. "What they don't is the cost of someone else losing their right to exist. You know alchemy works on equivalent exchange. In order to gain anything something of _**equal**_ value must be lost. They'll never consider the loss of millions of lives equal to the continuation of so few to be equal. They'll fight tooth and nail to save any life, mutant or human, but they won't allow anything of their creation to be manipulated…."

"You of all people should not be talking about the evils of manipulation." Magneto interrupted. "Ever since the discovery of Edward's talents you have made sure to have him under your direct command, and as a result your reputation, power and influence has risen significantly."

"There is a reason for that." Mustang responded in an unemotional tone. He knew Magneto was trying to box him into a corner, but there wasn't much he could say without putting himself and his subordinates in danger.

"And that is what I'm afraid of." Magneto answered. "I told the brothers that you and the people under your command do have some integrity. While I would like to continue to believe that there is growing evidence to the contrary." He continued and picked up one of the many books surrounding him. "A record of the Ishbal campaign." He explained, flipping through the pages. "Exact details are largely absent of course, such things aren't normally meant public eyes. They tend to get people asking questions about the wisdom of their government."

Now Mustang's face was furrowed with concern, knowing just where Magneto was going with this.

"But upon reading it I did discover something very interesting." Magneto continued. "The names of the highest ranking members of military that are here, even Lieutenant Hawkeye, are mentioned as having played quite a role in the conflict. Being alchemists the two of you more so then the others." He added, looking from Mustang to Armstrong then back. "Major Armstrong was accused of cowardice on the battlefield, failing to fulfill his duties. The most famous accusation being that he willingly allowed the enemy to escape. In light of what was going on, what his orders were and who the '_enemy_' must have been I can understand, even respect that. But you, from everything that was written you were a model soldier. It was then that you started making a name for yourself, amidst all the carnage and death." He stood as he talked; his voice became angrier the more he spoke. "Your rise to prominence was begun amid a sea of blood! So tell me Colonel…" He threw the book on the table in front of Mustang with a loud bang, looking him right in the eye. "What did _**you**_ do during the war?!"

Mustang didn't answer right away, knowing he needed to choose his answer carefully. Magneto's eyes weren't glowing this time but the look behind them managed to display just as much, if not more, intensity then before.

"I did exactly as the book said I did. I performed my duties as a soldier." He finally answered, meeting Magneto's stare. "I fought alongside and protected my fellow countrymen in battle, exactly as I was expected. That I have no regrets over." He took a deep breath before continuing and his voice took on a tone of great weariness. "However I also did things that will haunt me until the day I die." Though Magneto's eyes lost none of their intensity Mustang could see that he was at least listening to what he was being told. "It was in Ishbal I realized how wrong things were with this country, both its government and military, and how changes were desperately needed for the better. In that sea of blood I resolved to be the one to make those changes. What you said about my rising reputation, power and influence, that's all true. All three are necessary to make sure those changes come to pass. You think I'm using Ed and Al just to further my own agenda. Am I? I suppose in the simplest terms, yes. But that agenda entails more then just me, them, or any one of my subordinates. They don't know the whole truth because I won't force them, or anyone else, into that kind of danger. I view no one under my command as a pawn, all their lives are of more importance then mine and they all have their part to play. The parts for Ed and Al are to help make sure something like Ishbal never happens again. And even though you might think that's what you'll have them do as well you're just going to initiate another Ishbal with their assistance, only in reverse. They will never agree to that." He finished.

He had presented his side and now it was up to Magneto to decide what would happen next. The mutant leader did not look at all swayed by Mustang's argument but he no longer had the look of fury on his face either. After what seemed like hours of tense silence Magneto slowly say back down.

"I can understand your reasoning Colonel but I do not agree on your comparison." He said in a calm but stone serious voice. "The humans do have the capabilities to do to us what your government did to Ishbal, and they will use them. It is my duty to make sure that never comes to pass."

"And you believe using the Elric brothers are a key to helping you prevent that." Mustang stated. "By using alchemy to sow confusion and discord among regular humans. If so many people suddenly start acting like mutants paranoia will serve to significantly weaken them."

"Very good Colonel." Magneto commented. "You no doubt have used spies in the past to similar effect."

"But there's more then that isn't it?" Mustang said, ignoring the statement. "Something that doesn't have to do with use of alchemy itself, if your own science can already do so much." He stated, sensing an ulterior motive.

"You believe I am lying about my offer?" Magneto asked suspiciously.

"No." Mustang admitted. "But I don't think you're telling the whole truth either. You've got something else planned for them."

"I intend to do nothing more involving them then I have already stated." Magneto replied. Again Mustang got that nagging feeling something was amiss, even though it didn't appear Magneto was lying. He was able to keep his face blank but inwardly he scowled at the situation. Their was no evidence and he couldn't come up with any good theories so he would have to leave that things as they were…..for now.

"You'll understand if I refuse to believe any good can come of your plans for Ed and Al in the first place." He finally stated, getting back to why he was here to begin with.

"That is your right." Magneto answered. "However it is still my belief they will be able to do more good on my world then yours."

"And I doubt anything either of us could say would change the mind of the other." Mustang said flatly. Magneto didn't reply, knowing that Mustang already knew the answer. "Then I guess the only thing left to do is to let them make their own choice."

"You will accept their decision no matter what they choose?" Magneto asked.

"I've learned that trying to force those two to do anything only makes them more determined to do the opposite." Mustang replied. "Their decision on the matter will be final and I won't fight them on it. I trust I can count on the same from you?"

"I never had any intention of doing anything but that Colonel." Magneto answered. Mustang nodded and, knowing the conversation was over, stood up and headed towards the doors. Hawkeye and Armstrong followed him out, none of them looking back. As they walked down the hallway no one said anything until they heard the doors of the library shut. Once he heard the doors click shut Mustang sighed heavily.

"Well that went rather badly now didn't it?" He asked rhetorically, much to the surprise of both Armstrong and Hawkeye.

"Badly sir?" Hawkeye asked. "It didn't seem that way. Your arguments were very convincing."

"Yes but they weren't enough to fully win in the end, or to counter what he's offering." Mustang replied.

"I don't understand sir." Armstrong said. "He could very well be lying about what he's promised to give the boys. And wanting to keep that man from creating another Ishbal on his world would be more then enough to fully win the argument."

"He doesn't have to lie about what he offered them." Mustang replied. "Between the existence of mutants and what his science has already done I'm convinced he's more then able to do exactly what he said. That's why I never brought it up. As for stopping another Ishbal from happening, I can't win there because he's convinced that it's his only option. Without question it's the wrong option but it's his reasoning behind it that's problematic. He's trying to protect the mutants on his world, to ensure that they survive. There's no way you'll convince anyone that fighting for their right to live is the wrong thing to do. As far as Magneto is concerned any ends taken justify those means. Ed and Al want to help his people but they won't stand for what he has planned, that's a given. But what they don't realize is that if they do go they'll never be able to convince him to act any other way. Or at least not soon enough before they try to take actions themselves to make things change, and we all know they will. He's going to view that as an act of betrayal. I don't know how far he'd go after something like that but what I am certain of is that we need to do everything to make sure it never gets to that point to begin with."

"So in the end it's as much about protecting the boys as it is protecting the innocents of Magneto's world." Hawkeye stated. Mustang nodded. "Can we be sure he'll honor his word if they decide to stay?" She asked as they approached Mustang's office. It was the one nagging doubt in her, and more then likely Armstrong's, mind. She had faith in the boys to make the right decision but what she didn't have faith in was a promise made by someone like Magneto.

"Oh he will." Mustang assured them. "He would prefer they help him but he knows they'd be working towards noble goals here as well."

"He did not appear convinced when you told him that sir." Armstrong said as they entered the office. "If I may ask how can you be so sure?"

"Because he didn't kill us." Mustang answered simply. Both Armstrong and Hawkeye started at the casualness of the comment. "After reading about what happened in Ishbal and then finding out he was working with one of its 'heroes' he would have been more then willing to take the violent approach." He said as he sat down at his desk. "Add to it that certain hero is manipulating Ed and Al to what looks like only personal gain he'd feel more then justified. I know I would have been. I'm just glad he was willing to hear an explanation and that when I told him the truth he believed me. If he didn't…" He shrugged and spread his hands out.

"So our next course of action is to try and convince Ed and Al to stay?" Armstrong asked, changing the subject.

"Yes and no." Mustang replied. Before either Armstrong or Hawkeye could even give him a questioning look he continued. "Trying to verbally convince Al might work but Ed is another story entirely. Magneto knows that I won't tell either of them the whole truth about what I'm doing, and he's smart enough to know I won't jeopardize those plans just to keep them here. Ed is still convinced that I'm nothing but an egotistical power monger and that needs to remain unchanged. Even if that argument worked and they stayed because of it both of them would be at risk of even greater danger then they are now. I won't allow that to happen so we're going to have to let Magneto's actions speak for themselves and let that convince the two of them to stay. Unfortunately that will mean people dying, and when it comes to that there's not going to be much we can do to stop it."

"Whoever is responsible for Colonel Jacobs and the attack in Reesembol." Armstrong stated. Mustang nodded in response.

"It's a forgone conclusion that whoever was behind that will try again, most likely in greater force, he knows that as well as we do." He said. "We're going to have to be prepared to fend them off until we can send Magneto's group and the X-Men back to their home world. We can take precautions to minimize casualties, but him….." He shook his head. He could tell by the deep looks of worry from both Armstrong and Hawkeye that they fully understood. When, not if, the attack came Magneto would, out of what he viewed as necessity, kill anyone he deemed as a threat. All three of them knew that meant there was more then likely to be no survivors.


	10. Threat upon Threat

Chapter 10: Threat upon threat

"Well we've been going over this for almost two and a half days straight and we still haven't come up with anything." Lt. Colonel Hughes sighed as he, Major Armstrong and Colonel Mustang stood over several maps of the area.

They had been trying to determine a viable defense for the castle when the renegade, or more then likely not so renegade, military unit came to try their luck capturing Magneto's group of mutants. While the castle where the lab was based could be converted into a fortress easily enough it wasn't made to withstand attacks from a modern military. If it was only foot soldiers and transport vehicles they would be able to hold them off for quite a while with minimal to no losses on both sides. Unfortunately that was what had been used at Reesembol and look what had happened there. Whoever was in charge wasn't going to make the same mistake again, and that meant they'd be more then likely be dealing with tanks and artillery. So far the only viable options they could come up with that didn't involve killing the soldiers involved was keeping them from making it to the castle in the first place. That would mean tearing up a considerable distance of railroad tracks and making the roads that lead here completely impassable. Even then it would only buy them a little bit of time. Troops could navigate the woods surrounding the castle without being seen and tanks could just smash or blow their way through.

"And Doctor Thomas isn't making as much progress as we had hoped." Armstrong added. "At their current speed the calculations to reopening the gate safely will take almost two weeks." While the machinery was being repaired and reinstalled at a fairly steady pace calibrating it had turned out to be more difficult then Thomas had originally thought.

"Which means we're becoming more and more reliant on Magneto's own people to find their way here, something we don't have time for." Mustang finished. With no real time frame of how long the other side would take to find their leader they couldn't just sit back and wait for them to arrive. Even if they did arrive soon the threat of Central making another move would mean that Mustang's team would have to fight off their own government's forces until they could bring the X-Men here and send them back to. As it was all of them considered themselves to be extremely lucky to have been left alone this long. Even now they half expected to receive a report at any moment of tanks and troops arriving at the train station and heading right for them.

"And of course option B is still out of the question, even if we didn't have any interference." Hughes put in. Option B was just retrying the original experiment and using a fake philosopher's stone to home in on the yellow stone that existed in Magneto's world. Thomas didn't want to go that route again for fear of 'running into' the mutant's rescue attempt and possibly causing another backlash that had the potential to level the entire castle. Second, and most important, was that Magneto had warned them that even if they could make it to the yellow stone's location it would not be on Earth and it would be guarded by beings that were even more powerful then he was. Beings that would not take very kindly to having thieves in their midst. Mustang didn't know if Magneto was exaggerating about the dangers of getting the stone but he was positive it was not on his Earth so it would be a wasted effort anyway.

"And that makes relocation of Magneto's group to be our best bet so far." Mustang responded with a frown. "If we can get them to a secure location successfully we might be able to throw Central off for a while but they'll still take control of the lab and all its equipment."

"Which depends on getting them past any patrols and checkpoints Central is bound to be setting up right now." Armstrong said. "Even with disguises and Mystique's ability hiding Juggernaut will be next to impossible."

"Even if we could they'll be looking specifically for anyone leaving this area." Mustang replied. While the main attack had not come yet they knew one of the few reasons it hadn't was that Jacobs and whoever else in Central that was in charge were making sure to cut off all avenues of escape. If it was taking this long it meant they were being very thorough. "Which is why we're not even going to try it." Hughes and Armstrong gave their commanding officer a questioning look. "On the off chance they do breach the walls I've been taking a look at these as well as the geography of the area." He explained as he brought over several more large sheets of paper. "Notice anything strange?"

Hughes and Armstrong looked down at the new papers and saw they were schematics for the castle itself. Though yellowed and crinkled from extreme age they were still very legible and showed them every room and corridor in the building. Including some that they had never seen before, even though they had walked right past them.

"Looks like whoever built this place had a thing for secret passages." Hughes commented, noticing with some displeasure that three of them led into the dining hall where the lab was housed. "We're going to have to seal these off." He said, pointing to the passages in question.

"I've already talked to Doctor Thomas about it and they're currently working in it." Mustang answered. "But the real find is here." He shuffled the plans so they were looking at a diagram of the storage/dungeon areas on the castles very lowest level. "Something people would normally write off as the architect making a mistake." He clarified and pointed to one particular corner.

"A door that goes nowhere?" Armstrong asked as he studied where Mustang was pointing. On the map was the symbol for a door and a small section of a passageway after it that seemed to stop in the middle of nothing.

"Quite the oddity, even for a place like this." Mustang agreed. "On a hunch I went into town to dig into the local history and came up with this." He produced another sheet of folded up paper from inside his uniform. After unfolding it and putting it on the table he let his subordinates take a good look at it. After studying it for a few seconds both looked back up at the Colonel, eyebrows raised.

"How long have these things been here?" Hughes asked, glancing back down at the map.

"If the dates are accurate at least fifty years." Mustang answered. That earned him looks of surprise from both of the others.

"And the State never knew they existed?" Armstrong asked. Mustang shook his head no.

"There was never a reason to know. There's not much out here that's of any use to the State to begin with so why should they even go looking for something like this?" He elaborated. Looking back down at the map he continued. "Of course it does say something when a person can construct their own personal labyrinth right under the government's nose." On the map before them was a detailed layout of a complex network of underground tunnels, rooms and passageways running underneath most of the surrounding area.

"Yeah but then there's the question of why." Hughes put in. "If you want to be sneaky that's one thing but why go make something like this if all you want are shortcuts?"

"To make sure you don't have just anyone using them and dropping in unexpectedly." Mustang replied. "The people in town were given only partial maps so they could use the tunnels for storage or hiding if they had to. Only the owners of this castle had a complete map so they could work their way from entrance to entrance." Now Hughes and Armstrong were looking at Mustang suspiciously.

"Not that we don't appreciate the intel we're getting but just how do you know all this?" Hughes asked accusingly.

"I do have my sources, you should know that." Was the only answer Mustang gave. Hughes wasn't about to give up that easily.

"Sources huh?" He asked with a tone that showed just how skeptical he was. "Those sources wouldn't happen to be that cute little redhead that works at the town library now would they?" He asked. When Mustang didn't say anything and narrowed his eyes Hughes laughed. "Funny, I never would have figured you as the type to go chasing after bookworms Roy." Mustang just shrugged at the verbal jab.

"Well a scholarly woman does have her own unique charms." He explained.

"Charms, right." Hughes said sounding just as skeptical. "You sure it didn't have anything to do with her…."

"How I came by this information is irrelevant anyway." Mustang said as if Hughes had never spoke. Hughes didn't press it and just smiled at his friend's reaction to the needling. "All that matters is that now we have a means of transferring the mutants to someplace Central is hopefully unaware of." He began tracing a path starting at the hidden door in the dungeon. "There are three points of entry; the first two are ones here and a second at the estate of the family that originally built the castle and tunnels in the first place. That's where we'll be taking our guests if things get that far."

"And all the equipment and data in the lab?" Hughes asked.

"It'll have to be abandoned." Mustang said bluntly. "We'll have to figure out our next move once we're sure that Central is off of our trail. At this point it looks like the only move we'll have is to stay put and wait for Magneto's scientists to succeed."

"So it will be a race to see which side finds us first." Armstrong said gravely. Mustang nodded in response. "Ironic that we are going to be placing our hope on the forces of confessed murderer rather then our own government."

"I'm hoping it won't have to come to that." Mustang replied. "If what Magneto told us about his own technology and resources are true they should have their own gate up and running much faster then ours. With any luck that will be while we're still engaged with Jacobs' unit and they'll be able to leave then and there."

"Of course that leaves one last problem." Hughes mentioned. "The X-Men. I don't think they'll be able to make it here before Jacobs does, not on foot. Even with their head start they won't know precisely where to go and they could wander into a patrol before the get in sight of the lab."

"Which brings us to the use of the third entrance in our little maze." Mustang said, pointing to another corner of the map. "This one is far enough outside the boundaries of the castle so that Jacobs' men won't know where to look for it, even if they were aware it existed. This is where we'll meet up with the X-Men and have them brought here. Even if Central has already moved by then it will be easy to sneak them in underground."

"A sound plan sir." Armstrong commented. "Where is this third entrance, and who is going to meet the X-Men when they arrive?"

"I'm still unsure about who to send, since everyone will be needed here once the attack begins." Mustang answered. "As for the where it's in the family crypt in the cemetery just outside of town."

"Well that's nice and morbid now isn't it?" Hughes commented offhandedly. After a few seconds of thought he realized something. "How are you going to tell the X-Men about the cemetery and where to go once they're there?" He asked, having a sneaking suspicion how.

"By using the one trick up our sleeve that no one knows about." Mustang answered as he reached into his pocket. "All you need to do is press it, right?" He asked as he brought out the radio Nightcrawler had given Armstrong.

"Winry saw Wolverine use one and that's the only thing he did." Hughes said with a slight frown. "You're sure about this Roy? We don't know who might be listening." It had been the argument that kept them from using it to begin with. While it was a great opportunity to contact the X-Men directly it also gave anyone with enough know-how and the right equipment a chance to listen in on their plans. Mustang was reasonably sure that the small radio was secure against anything the State, or anyone else on the planet, might have he didn't know if Magneto's group had radios of their own that could pick up its frequency. Since it was now clear that the only thing Magneto wanted to do was leave and wouldn't abandon the X-Men Mustang decided that it was worth the risk.

"We have to take every chance we can get, even the dangerous ones." Mustang told his second in command. Hughes still didn't look convinced this was a good idea but he held his tongue. Mustang pressed the top of the button and while he was only half expecting to her a loud warm up procedure like the radios he was familiar with he was still surprised when all it did was give a click and a soft beep. When nothing followed the beep he took it a sign that he was supposed to talk first he held it as far away from his mouth as he would a regular radio mike and started speaking.

"This is Colonel Roy Mustang of the Amestris military attempting contact with any X-Men who are within range of this transmission. If anyone can hear me please acknowledge." Nothing but silence answered him so he tried again. "I repeat this is Colonel Roy Mustang of the Amestris military attempting contact with any X-Men who are within range of this transmission. If anyone can hear me please acknowledge." Again there was no response and Mustang was beginning to wonder if this was a mistake when there was a burst of static followed by a distorted but still understandable voice.

"Colonel Mustang this is Cyclops, field commander of the X-Men. We can hear you. Are you receiving us?"

"We are." Mustang answered. "I have news…"

"Before you say anything else you're going to have to prove to us you're who you say you are. Otherwise this transmission will be cut immediately." Cyclops interrupted. Mustang blinked and stared at the radio in surprise. That was certainly not what he had been expecting. For a moment he wondered what that was all about then the realization dawned on him.

"You're worried about Mystique." He said into the radio.

"That's right." Cyclops confirmed. "We need to be certain you're not her trying to find out something she shouldn't know."

"We've been taking precautions against that ourselves." Mustang replied in understanding before turning towards Major Armstrong. "Major you had the most contact with them at the Rockbell's. Tell them something only you and they would know, and not something you would have told us." Armstrong thought for a moment, trying to recall any part of his interaction that would not have gone into his report to Mustang.

"When you were demonstrating your powers Gambit called me notre ami militaire. A phrase I do not know the meaning of." He finally said, confident the radio would pick up his voice.

"He's telling the truth." Cyclops told Mustang and Hughes. "All right Colonel, we're all ears."

"The Major told me you'd be able to find your way here on your own. Are you still able to?" He asked. He wasn't interested in how they were doing it, those kinds of questions could be asked later, only if they could still find the lab. Something may have happened in the past two days that would cause them to become lost. That would only complicate things further by requiring Mustang to send someone to pick them up.

"We're on the move right now." Cyclops answered. "We're moving as fast as we can safely and if we don't run into any problems our ETA should be in about twenty-four hours or so." He continued, anticipating Mustang's next question. Mustang frowned at the thought of having to wait another full day but knew he couldn't ask them to risk their lives just to get here sooner.

"That's the reason why I radioed you." He explained. "We can't just bring you down the main road to the lab. Moving you through the woods isn't an option either. We don't know when Central is going to send more people or if they already have someone watching us." He doubted that they managed to send an infiltrator here this quickly but he wasn't about to take any stupid chances.

"You have an alternate route in mind." Cyclops guessed.

"One that only we know about." Mustang confirmed. "When you get within sight of the lab you'll notice a small town a couple of miles away from it. On the edge of that town is a cemetery and one of its crypts contains the entrance to a secret passageway that will lead you here. We're going to send someone down there to help guide you and with any luck no one will notice a thing."

"Cemetery on the edge of town, got it." Cyclops acknowledged. "Just make sure to send someone we've already met." It sounded like a strange request to Mustang but he supposed that they were more willing to trust someone they already had contact with. "And what about whatever deal you have with Magneto? How does that factor into this?" He asked suspiciously. That one Mustang had expected and already prepared an answer.

"That deal fell through when someone went over my head and tried to capture you." He said. "He doesn't trust the State to keep its word of leaving him alone and to be honest at this point I don't blame him. He's stated that he only wants to return to your world and is willing to take you back when he goes." As he expected there was a long silence on the other end, followed by a loud and clear 'Bullshit!' growled in the background. Even without identifying himself Mustang had no trouble figuring out that had to be Wolverine.

"You'll understand if we're a bit skeptical about that last statement." Cyclops finally answered, ignoring the profanity from behind him.

"Yes I do." Mustang responded. "And if I were in your place I'd be thinking the same thing. However I believe that he's being truthful with this, especially after learning about what the State has done in the past."

"You're willing to vouch for him?" Cyclops asked in a neutral tone of voice. It didn't do much good because all three of the state officers heard the 'You're sure you want to vouch for _that guy_?' undertone in the statement.

"I am." Mustang answered. He believed what Magneto had told him and was willing to defend him on that. For some odd reason he found it akin to honor among officers, even though Magneto wasn't officially part of the military. Yes he still thought the mutant leader wasn't telling him the whole truth about other things but on this point he was sure of the sincerity of the promise.

"All right. Major Armstrong said we can trust your judgment so we will." Cyclops finally responded. It didn't sound like he was too happy about having to trust one of their worst enemies but Mustang was grateful they were willing to give it a chance. "We'll be there in twenty-four. If not, we'll contact you." He added.

"One last thing." Mustang said quickly before Cyclops shut off the radio from his end. "I was told one of your team was seriously wounded in the firefight. Is she all right? Should we have a doctor waiting for her when she gets here?" Armstrong had told him about the gunshot wound the woman called Strom had received at the onset of the battle and coupled with the lack of treatment meant that she could be in serious danger. Since he still considered everyone who had been brought through the gate to be his responsibility he wasn't about to let anyone die on his watch.

"Storm is doing well, and we appreciate your concern." Cyclops answered sincerely. "She'll need a real doctor to properly treat her wound but we managed to stop the bleeding and so far there's no sign of infection. She'll be able to make it there with no problem but if an emergency comes up we'll radio it in."

"Very well. We'll see you in twenty-four hours then." Mustang said.

"Twenty-four hours." Cyclops agreed. With the conversation over Mustang pressed down and with a second click and beep the radio shut off. Putting the device back into his pocket Mustang returned his attention to his subordinates.

"Now we have a timeline and a bit more leeway." He began. "Barring any unseen interference we'll be able to add the X-Men's powers to the defense of this facility. Combined with Magneto's own group we should be able to hold off any attack almost indefinitely." His face darkened as he came to the next part. "Unfortunately that also means convincing Magneto to order using restraint when fighting back."

"You don't think that's possible sir?" Armstrong asked, seeing the look of doubt in his commanding officers eyes.

"With the X-Men here it might be." Mustang answered. "Without them…" He didn't have to finish the thought to imply how bad it would be without the counterbalance of the second mutant team.

"Not to sound like a pessimist." Hughes spoke up. "But that also depends on them getting here before Central does. What happens if they can't?"

"We'll just have to deal with that if it happens." Mustang answered. "In the meantime we're going to have to finalize a defense plan, with or without them."

"Back to the grind it is." Hughes commented as they went back over the maps.

Quite a distance from the castle Cyclops shut off his own radio and prepared to get the X-Men back on their own grind but had something else that needed attention first.

"You're sure everything's all right Storm?" He asked the X-Woman who was currently sitting down against a tree. Like the others she had taken the opportunity to rest once Mustang had contacted them. Though they weren't exhausted over two days of constantly moving and very few hours of sleep had them fatigued to the point a small break was appreciated. Everyone except Wolverine, who showed no signs of fatigue at all.

"My shoulder has stiffened up considerably but I can ignore it." She replied, flexing her arm slightly to show it wasn't giving her any problems. They could still see the slight grimace as she did though. Cyclops didn't say anything but looked at Storm with a very critical eye. She was sweating and breathing heavier than normal and he was sure it had nothing to do with the physical exertion of the past couple of days.

"Give her a break Cyke." Wolverine said as he walked over to her. "If she says she's doing good she's doing good."

"All right then." Cyclops said after a moment. "Do you feel well enough start moving again?" He asked her and she nodded her head in response. "Storm, you're on point with me. Gambit you'll cover out left flank, Colossus will take the right. Wolverine, you're watching our backs."

"Sure, give me the boring job." Wolverine groused. "Why do you get to have all the fun?" He asked Storm as he offered her his hand to help her up. She took it and he used his other hand to grab her good arm to pull her to her feet.

"Perhaps it is because you get too involved in having 'fun'." Storm replied with a smile. Wolverine responded with a snort but didn't say anything. As the X-Men moved to take up their positions Cyclops and Wolverine hung back.

"She's running hotter than normal." Wolverine said when he was sure the others couldn't hear. "Her breathing is sounding a bit rattlely to." Thanks to his enhanced senses he had been able to feel Storm's high temperature when he grabbed her arm and being so close was able to hear the congestion in her lungs. Of course that meant one thing.

"The wound _is_ infected." Cyclops said.

"Yep." Wolverine confirmed. Cyclops sighed in response. They were nowhere near their destination and they couldn't risk stopping in any populated areas to get help. Even if the people were willing to look the other way with the oddly dressed strangers there was no way of telling where the military had eyes. And if the infection got worse... "Don't worry about her." Wolverine said as if reading his mind. "Ro's a tough one, she'll make it. What you should be worried about is if your eyesight is still working so we can get her patched up."

"The signal has been getting stronger the closer we get to it." Cyclops answered. "As long as the radio they have stays in one piece I'll be able to lead us right to it." One of the features in the radios the X-Men used was a built in tracking device so they could locate members of the team that had been separated or incapacitated. Normally it would have been done through the Blackbird or from the mansion itself but with the unexpected transportation to this world the only way they could be used was through the electronics built into Cyclops' visor. It had been a bit hit or miss when they first started due to the long distance but now the signal was coming in loud and clear, allowing them to easily follow it. "Just make sure you identify a threat before going after it." He added. "The closer we get to Mustang's location the more likely we are to run into their military, and they may or may not be on his side." He warned.

"Don't blow a blood vessel boss man. I'll keep my head down if I see something interesting happen." Wolverine answered sarcastically. "But you'd better make sure that one big eye of yours ain't just looking at which way we're going." Cyclops glared at the other man in response. Because he was the only one with the ability to lead the X-Men to the lab Cyclops had to be on point the entire time in case the direction they had to go in changed suddenly. Of course even when there was someone with him he was left wide open and Wolverine had insisted on scouting ahead to sniff out any potential ambushes. Not wanting to have the group be separated in strange territory Cyclops had ordered him not to. Wolverine had immediately questioned the team leader's tactical thinking and that had led to a whole new bout of posturing between the two. It had finally ended when Cyclops decided that Wolverine's scouting ability would be better served to make sure no one was following them. He'd been bringing up the rear since and Cyclops was determined that it would stay that way until they made contact with Colonel Mustang.

"Good. I don't want to explain how someone who was sent out to help us ended up getting slashed to ribbons." He said then turned around and moved to take his place on point. Wolverine sneered at Cyclops' remark about his lack of control, brought up his fist and popped his middle claw. The other man didn't turn around but Wolverine was sure he had heard it and once he had disappeared into the woods he retracted it before he started on his own path through the trees.

Of course tensions can be set on edge by things a lot simpler then rivalry.

"I can't believe we've been cooped up here this long!" Ed practically screamed. Despite the fact that he was pacing, fidgety and looked like he was ready to pull his hair out the other three people in the room gave his outburst little attention.

"We knew this would take a while Ed, there's nothing we can do about that." Al told his brother, trying to calm him down.

"I know I know. Things like this can't be rushed." Ed answered a bit more calmly as he looked over at Winry, who was currently sitting at one of the workstations examining Ed's almost complete new arm under one of the mounted magnifying glasses and ignoring the mini temper tantrum. "But I didn't think we'd have to spend the entire time in this room!" He added, working himself back up. "What's the deal with keeping us here like prisoners? You could at least let us get some fresh air!" His last bit was directed at their 'jailer' who was currently standing guard at the door.

"If you go somewhere, your buddies go with you. They go somewhere, you go with 'em." Juggernaut growled in response. "You don't like it, take it up with Magneto. Otherwise shut the hell up will you! You're starting to give me a headache!"

"Just let us out of here and I'm sure that headache will go away." Ed snapped back, even though he knew it wouldn't get him anywhere. "Maybe you should take a break instead and make everyone happy." He added, again knowing that Juggernaut wouldn't.

After what happened in Reesembol Magneto was taking no chances when it came to trusting the State outside Mustang's inner circle. As such he had ordered that until Ed and Al could defend themselves, and by extension Winry, none of them would be out of contact with the other two or the bodyguard that had been chosen for them. They would go places as a group, or nowhere at all. Since Ed's new arm needed Winry's full attention she needed to stay in the workshop at all times. That in turn meant that Ed and Al were going nowhere unless Winry needed to go to. Unfortunately for the brothers as well as Juggernaut she had entered the stage of single-mindedness when focusing on the job at hand. She stopped only to eat, with the food being brought to them. A pair of cots had also been brought down for herself and Ed, with Al and surprisingly Juggernaut not needing sleep, which solved the problem of rest. As a result the arm was coming along faster than originally thought and was nearing completion. On the other hand it also meant that two of the three people that didn't have anything to do were quickly going stir-crazy.

"Yeah like this is really my idea of a fun time shrimp." Juggernaut responded. He had voiced his own displeasure at being stuck in the room many times but the promise of a large paycheck had kept him in a slightly less agitated state then Ed. The bad news was he started looking like he was about to do something drastic to relieve his own boredom. If that happened there was a good chance he'd bring the whole building down on their heads.

"DON'T…CALL…ME…" Ed growled through ground teeth. It took all of his willpower not to rush the man that had become an almost unbearable annoyance the last few days. It wasn't the fact that he only had one arm, he would have rushed ahead without it under normal circumstances. The fact that running headlong into a fight with the giant had caused him to lose the arm in the first place, and what had happened to Al, was the only thing that was stopping him. He almost did when he saw the man smile at his reaction when the door burst open, focusing everyone's attention elsewhere.

"You brats had better hurry up with what you're doing!" An angry accented voice yelled as Pryo made his way inside, pushing a serving cart that had a large tray of sandwiches on it along with two regular size glasses and a third very large one. "I'm getting sick and tired of being your bloody waiter!" He exclaimed as he shoved the cart at the work station Winry was currently using. "Even if it does give me a break from hauling around all the crap from the lab." He finished as he walked over and sat down at the work station next to Winry's with a groan.

"That's strange because you seem pretty well fit for being a waiter." Ed remarked with a smirk as he made his way over to the food.

"I'm going to get that sot of a Colonel if it's the last thing I do." Pyro growled in response. After it became clear that Winry and the others would be eating in the workshop for the time being Mustang and been more than happy to decide just who would be delivering their food. Unlike the others working to repair the lab Pyro could be spared without any real loss and Magneto had agreed. Naturally Pryo had been less then enthused to have another menial task added on to his duties, furious would be a better phrase, which was exactly as Mustang planned it.

"Hey at least you get to move around." Juggernaut said as he grabbed a handful of sandwiches and the large glass. "I'm stuck in here on kiddie patrol until she can repair the shrimp and that walking junker." He gestured over to Al, who just stood leaning against one of the tables as the others ate.

"Don't you dare call him anything like that." Ed said in a calm but very angry tone as he glared at Juggernaut. "He's a person. More importantly he's my brother and I won't let anyone talk about him like that." Juggernauts response was a 'heh' that seemed to say 'and what are you going to do about it?' as he wolfed down the food he had taken. Ed's eyes narrowed but before he could do anything he would regret Al spoke up to stop him.

"Don't worry about it brother. Some people just don't understand stuff like that." Ed looked at his brother then back over to Juggernaut. He realized Al was right, they had met people whose lack of family had turned them indifferent to matters like that so he just shook his head and didn't say anything. He tried to get his mind back on other things but couldn't concentrate because for some odd reason Pyro had started laughing.

"Doesn't understand stuff like that?" He said to Al. "That's an understatement if I ever heard one." He waited until Ed, Al and Winry were all staring at him in confusion and Juggernaut was glaring at him before continuing. "You have any idea how many times he's tried to kill his own brother? I lost count myself a while ago." He added with a smirk. The three children looked over to the snarling giant, stunned, and waited for an explanation.

"_**Step**_brother." He emphasized with a sneer. "And one of these days his luck is gonna run out." He promised. Now the kids were looking at him with horrified expressions. Killing people in war, or even as a mercenary was one thing. But this….

"You've actually tried to kill your own brother!" Ed asked in a tone of absolute disbelief. To try to harm a member of your own family, especially your brother was to him, to all of them, unfathomable.

"_**STEP**_brother!" Juggernaut repeated, becoming angrier. "And yeah I have! Always thinking being a mutant made him special, made him better then me! Now I'm going to show him that being a mutant means you just die a freak!"

"But he's your family!" Al exclaimed. Juggernaut turned towards Al and looked like he was going to kill him for even suggesting such a thing. Undeterred Al continued. "Blood brother or stepbrother you're still family, and family looks after each other. You both have powers to, so that means…"

"I'M NOT A MUTANT!" Juggernaut bellowed, silencing him while making everyone jump. "My powers come from magic, not from being a freak!" He yelled as he started moving towards Al. "So don't even start comparing me to…!"

"That's impossible!" A new voice shouted, causing Juggernaut to stop and turn around. He saw Ed looking at him with an incredulous, and somewhat angry, look. "There's no such thing as magic! You're just lying about it so you don't have to admit to being a mutant!" He accused.

His outburst was just as much to take Juggernaut's attention away from Al as it was what he really thought. After declaring he wasn't a mutant back in the castle hallways Ed had wracked his brain for a possible explanation. The only thing he could come up with was that some kind of unknown and highly advanced type of science that seemed to be prevalent in the X-Men's world had given Juggernaut his powers. He had been debating whether to ask the giant or not just what process had given him his enormous strength and apparent invulnerability, just to satisfy his scientific curiosity. The explanation he had inadvertently gotten well….. it wasn't something he had expected, or was willing to accept. So far everything they had heard or seen since the gate mishap, mutant powers, highly advanced radio equipment, even the restoration of Magneto's youth, was all based in science. Now suddenly here was someone claiming that magic was responsible for what he could do? Every instance of 'magic' Ed had ever encountered were just simple tricks or alchemy disguised as something supernatural. As far as he was concerned Juggernaut claiming his powers were 'magical' was just his showing how much of a coward he really was by refusing to accept he was like his stepbrother in any way, even if it was in the loosest of terms.

Juggernaut didn't verbally answer but stomped over to Ed, glaring down at him from his over two foot height advantage.

"You wanna say that again?" Juggernaut dared Ed with a growl. Winry gasped and Al started to hobble his way over but Ed didn't flinch at the threat and stared back at the super powered giant.

"You can't stand to believe you're like your brother at all." He bluntly answered back in accusing/lecturing tone. "So instead of just admitting you're a mutant like him you have to make up something to explain how you're the way you are." He stated, glaring at Juggernaut as the latter became angrier. "No matter how different or advanced the science is, there's always going to be one constant. Magic..isn't ..real." He spaced out the last sentence like a teacher explaining a simple concept to a particularly dumb student. It only served to infuriate Juggernaut further as he growled even louder and balled his hands into fists, crushing the glass he held. "You're just showing that I'm right." Ed added, taking notice of Juggernaut's reaction. He kept his face calm but internally the fear he felt was palpable. It wasn't quite up to the wetting yourself level but there was enough to make him wonder if he had actually gone too far with that last crack, and what exactly the results of such an action were going to be. From the start he knew that there would be limits to how much Juggernaut would take before the money became irrelevant, but he had been prepared to take the risk. The only way to deal with a bully like this was to stand up to them. Unfortunately unlike other bullies Juggernaut wasn't put in his place by taking him to task. In fact it looked like it was making it harder for him not to throw the punch, money or not.

"Actually you don't know how wrong you are sonny boy." Pyro interrupted before Juggernaut could make up his mind. "Just 'cause you don't have magic here doesn't mean we don't have it either." Ed turned to glare at the mutant.

"You're just saying that to defend him." He accused. Truth be told Pyro was actually saying it so Juggernaut didn't turn Ed into a splotch on the wall. Yeah he started the argument between the two of them for some laughs but if the kid was hurt both of them would be in real trouble.

"I don't have to lie about this one boyo." Pyro said, brushing aside the accusation. "I've seen it with me own two eyes. I don't understand the bloody stuff but I can tell you for a fact it's real." Ed snorted in contempt at the statement.

"Then that just means you're both gullible enough to believe in something like that." He said in a mocking tone. He had been careful not to use the word stupid because he knew for sure that would set Juggernaut off.

"Well maybe it just means you're not as damn smart as you think you are." Juggernaut snarled. Ed turned back to the larger man with a scowl. He would never stand for having his intelligence insulted, let alone by someone like this. "Think about it _**genius**_." He said in a mocking tone of his own. "When you tried your little trick on this…." He rapped his knuckles against his helmet several times. "..what stopped it?" Ed's scowl deepened, knowing what Juggernaut was trying to get him to admit.

"Something that _**wasn't **_magic." Ed answered tersely. "It might take a while but I'll be able to prove it." Now Juggernaut had a superior grin of his own from ear to ear.

"You want to be dumb enough and try go ahead." He challenged. "Just to let you know you're in for a long, long wait there smart guy." He added in a mocking tone before grabbing some more food, turning around and walking off, laughing. To say Ed was mad would have been a gross understatement in itself. His one good hand was held up in a fist that was shaking almost uncontrollably while he ground his teeth almost to the breaking point. That Al and Winry were, unfortunately, used to. But add on that his face was bright red, veins were bulging from both temples, and one of his eyes was twitching rapidly it just about looked like his head was ready to explode. As far as Ed was concerned it was fully justified. Being mocked about his size was bad enough. However he had just had his intelligence thoroughly insulted by someone who seemed to be as smart as a pile of bricks. Juggernaut had the nerve to call _**him**_ stupid for not believing in fairy tales and superstitious nonsense? He took a deep breath and prepared to tell Juggernaut just what he thought about _his_ intelligence….

"Gaaaccckkk!" But the only thing that came out was a strangled cry of surprise as Winry grabbed the back of his shirt and yanked him over to her workstation.

"Not now Ed I need to check the connection measurements one last time before hooking them up." She stated in a scolding tone as she made him sit down on the stool. Ed looked at the arm, which aside from having its internal workings exposed, looked more or less complete. He didn't know everything there was to know about automail but he did know that the connection ports were one of the most important components there were. You got those wrong the entire limb would be worthless. The thing was Winry prided herself on getting things like that right the first time every time, which she always did without fail. With his especially, she had rebuilt his own automail so often she probably had everything memorized.

"You have to….?" Ed began to ask as he turned back to look at Winry. He shut up when he saw the look she was giving him. It was a combination of 'Be quiet if you know what's good for you.' and 'You're questioning _my _knowledge on the subject!, the latter of which Ed found much more terrifying. It turned his face pale and immediately made him forget about the argument he just had with Juggernaut. "Uh right… check connections… make sure everything works….can't be too careful…." He stammered frantically as Winry made a show of checking his shoulder.

The others watched the display marveling at the irony of it. A giant that could crush solid granite into powder and have bullets bounce off his skin, oh sure that Ed could apparently handle. An irate Winry…well that was something else altogether now wasn't it?

Central Scientific Archives: That same time

"It's been like this the past several days sir." A nervous Lieutenant explained as he and several soldiers escorted the Fuehrer down one of the many winding halls of the archives. "He comes in and just reads through every book and file folder we have, not even stopping to eat or sleep. He'll leave for about an hour or so around six in the morning but then come right back and start again."

"And you never thought this behavior strange Lieutenant Cain?" Fuehrer Bradley asked in a calm voice but the Lieutenant could hear the rebuke in his words for not catching on sooner.

"No sir." Lieutenant Cain answered truthfully and sheepishly. "There have been lots of people who do research here that seem to go on nothing but coffee and the occasional catnap. We just surmised that he was another one of the night owls and let him be."

"But then something convinced you that this needed my personal attention." Bradley stated. "What was it?" He prompted.

"Normally he would just take piles of books, read them, and then put them back. Day in and day out, we were starting to think he'd read everything we had. But last night he began making strange requests." Lieutenant Cain answered. "He started asking for any information we had on the Philosophers Stone, about human transmutation. Those kinds of things you don't ask about if you don't have the clearance for it. When we challenged him on it he told us that he was on a fact finding mission for you sir." Bradley raised an eyebrow at this. Someone had the audacity to use his name in what was obviously in infiltration attempt? They were either very brave or very stupid.

"And of course you gave him access to what he requested without questioning him further, and without contacting me." Bradley said aloud. Again calmly but with a threatening undertone. Lieutenant Cain visibly cringed before answering.

"He's a two star general sir. That's higher then anyone stationed here and if someone that high says he has the Fuehrer's ear you don't question it. I tried to have him present written authorization but he told me that this was a classified operation, and if I attempted to go over his head I'd be executed for treason." Bradley didn't say anything. Those kinds of threats coming from so high a rank would scare most people into submission, even if it was highly suspicious. It was one of the few drawbacks of having an army where authority wasn't questioned. Still even then it wouldn't be easy to pull off. Whoever this was they weren't to be underestimated.

"It took me this long to finally work up the nerve to contact you directly. I wasn't sure if he was telling the truth about having me executed." Cain continued.

"You did exactly as a soldier should." Bradley answered. "So long as we can resolve this situation quickly your hesitation can be forgiven." The Lieutenant desperately hoped that they could. If something happened to all the sensitive information the fake general had asked for…he shuddered at the thought.

"This is where he always goes sir." He said as he lead Bradley and the soldiers to an isolated room in the back. "As far away from people as he could possibly get."

"So people would not be able to see just what material he is reading no doubt." Bradley said as the soldiers drew their pistols and took up positions around the door. "Are there any other exits he could use to escape?" He asked the Lieutenant.

"No sir." Came the reply. "That room has only this door, no windows, and the ventilation isn't big enough for a child to crawl through."

"Very good then." Bradley said with a nod before he turned to the soldiers. "You may proceed." He ordered. While the other two soldiers stood to the side of the door the third stepped in front of it, brought his leg up, and kicked it as hard as he could. The door was unlocked and flew open at the kick, allowing the soldiers and Lieutenant Cain to rush into the room quickly. They trained their guns on the back of a man sitting at a long, heavy rectangular table surrounded by what appeared to be a literal mountain of books. The man didn't jump or yell at the intrusion and didn't appear nervous or panicky. In fact all he did was take his attention away from the three books he was reading and raise his head.

"I trust there is a good explanation for interrupting me like this." He said coolly, making no effort to hide the 'or else' attached to it.

"There is indeed." Bradley said as he entered the room. This made the man sit a little straighter. He might not recognize the voice but he had no trouble hearing the tone of absolute authority behind it. "Breaking and entering into a restricted government facility, spying and possible sabotage of State projects." The man slowly stood up and turned around to face his accuser. Bradley stood flanked by the soldiers that had broken the door down. When he got a good look at the man's face he tilted his head in surprise. "Well I guess we can add high treason and impersonating a superior officer. Both of which will have you hanged by tomorrow. I honestly expected an enemy spy, not one of our own." He added, giving the man a critical look over. "I promoted you myself Major Hamilton. You had such potential and decided to waste it. A loyal member of the military and a devoted servant of the State you might have made General anyway if you had only waited. To think I believed in your devotion to your country. I guess this proves even I can be wrong from time to time."

Hamilton didn't show any fear from Bradley's threats, or the guns aimed at him. In fact his facial expression changed from one of calmness to one of an irritation, like someone who realized they'd have to walk through mud to get where they were going. That kind of demeanor caught Bradley's attention. He was acting like he was in control of the situation, not them. Hamilton was a good soldier and a talented alchemist but not good enough to escape from a situation like this breathing, let alone unscathed. That set Bradley's combat instincts on edge, which proved to be correct.

"You don't know how wrong." Hamilton said calmly. Before anyone could question what that statement meant he turned around, picked up the table he had been sitting at, and threw it at his would be captors.

Bradley reacted instantly, leaping over the improvised projectile and drawing his sword in one smooth motion. He didn't look behind him but if he did he would have seen that Lieutenant Cain was the only one of the four to keep his wits about him and drop to the floor. The other three remained standing in a state of dumbfounded confusion as the table hit them with bone shattering snaps and knocked all of them off their feet. The Lieutenant heard the crunch and turned to see if any of them were still conscious but was greeted with a sight that was both amazing and horrifying at the same time. The throw had so much force behind it, and the table had been so heavy, that it actually carried the three soldiers it hit through the air until that slammed into the wall. There were more, even louder crunching sounds of bones breaking and the way the three men slumped to the ground the Lieutenant knew they wouldn't be getting up soon, if at all. Forcing himself to turn and face the person that had preformed the impossible act he saw Bradley swinging his sword at Hamilton, trying to cut him down. This was proving to be difficult because as fast as Bradley was Hamilton seemed to be just fast enough to avoid the sword strikes. Knowing he had to help his leader the Lieutenant took aim with his pistol and waited for an opening.

When Bradley had first jumped over the thrown desk he knew that most or all of the soldiers behind him would probably die but he didn't care. They were expendable anyway, their kind always were. What he needed to focus on was defeating this inhumanly strong opponent and figuring out what exactly was going on. The man in front of him obviously wasn't Hamilton and he had his suspicions but he needed to be sure before he could act on them. He charged forward and readied his sword as his opponent grabbed the chair he had been sitting on and swung it at him. Bradley responded with a swing of his own and sliced the chair in half. He expected the man to have the reaction most people would and just stand there stupidly, allowing him the finishing strike. Instead he dropped what was left of the chair and backed away out of range of the blade. Bradley wasn't about to give him a chance to recover and lunged forward in a stabbing motion. Hamilton sidestepped it but before he could do anything Bradley swung a second time, forcing him to back up. He swung again and again but his opponent always managed to just avoid being cut. It was turning into a frustrating stalemate. Hamilton was dodging all of Bradley's attacks but he could not go on the offensive without being skewered. Bradley swung low and was beginning to wonder how to break the stalemate when someone else decided to do it for him.

CRACK

The sound of the pistol shot itself wasn't what gave Bradley his opening. It was the fact that after he heard the bullet whiz over his head he saw a hole appear in Hamilton's uniform jacket. He had been lucky in that the bullet had not hit him dead on. Not so lucky in that the momentary lapse in concentration almost getting shot caused gave Bradley the opportunity he needed. He swung high and aimed for Hamilton's throat with all his strength. This time he was sure there would be no dodging or blocking the blow. Once he had Hamilton's headless corpse to study he could get some answers…or that's what the thought was until the blade made contact with the neck, and shattered like a child's toy. Like Hamilton before him Bradley didn't panic or become angry when his sword broke. He merely looked at the hilt of the ruined weapon and then at the person who had caused it.

"Well I guess this means you can drop the charade." He said calmly as he let the hilt drop to the floor with a clang. "Mutant." He added with certainty. He began to suspect the moment 'Hamilton' had been able to throw such a heavy desk like it weighed nothing, but alchemy may have attributed to that. Once he had seen that normal 'human' skin was able to break high quality steel he knew it couldn't be anything else. He didn't know what the mutant's reaction would be once his true identity was discovered, anger most likely. But while he did appear angry he looked more insulted then anything.

"I am as far beyond mutants as they are beyond you." Hamilton said in a voice much deeper than it had been a minute ago. As Bradley watched Hamilton's skin and clothes began to shift change. In a way it reminded him of Envy, but none of his forms were anything like this. The blue of the State uniform darkened as parts became dark grey and began change from cloth to a metallic armor. Even as the shape became more defined the sized increased, growing until it was at a height of at least eight feet. Two cords of metal snaked around from what appeared to be the small of his back and attached themselves to his arms just above the elbows. When the transformation was complete Bradley found himself being started down by a grey skinned face tinged with blue markings and eyes that that were just as grey as the armor. "I am eternal!" Now the voice had a metallic echoing effect to it.

"I see arrogance is not limited solely to Magneto when it comes to his forces." Bradley said dryly. Now the mutant was glaring at him.

"I serve no one!" The large mutant declared as he raised one of his hands and pointed it at him. "I am Apocalypse!" Bradley prepared to move again when Apocalypse tried to strike him but was caught off guard as a beam of yellow energy lanced out from the mutant's hand and struck him in the chest. Before he could even comprehend what was going on Bradley had been reduced to a smoking skeleton that clattered to the ground. Apocalypse then turned his attention to the Lieutenant, now trembling uncontrollably but still paralyzed with fear. "Such is the fate of all who oppose me." He stated calmly as he pointed his hand at him.

Lt. Cain closed his eyes and waited for the end to come but instead of hearing the sound of a second energy blast he heard…meat tearing? Since he wasn't dead yet the Lieutenant opened his eyes and chanced a look at what was going on. Apocalypse had lowered his hand and was now ignoring the soldier, staring intently at what was left of Bradley's corpse. Following his gaze the Lieutenant could see what the…mutant?...was so interested in. As fast as quicksilver he could see organs re-growing, tendons and ligaments appearing out of nowhere and reattaching bones together. Muscle reformed to cover the bones, forming brand new veins and arteries. To the Lieutenant's fascination, and absolute horror, he could see the heart start to beat a split second before a new layer of skin covered the regenerating Fuehrer. He thought that would be it but in one last impossible display the clothing Bradley had worn reappeared in perfect dress uniform, even his eye-patch. The Lieutenant was seriously beginning to question his sanity when Bradley's good eye opened and he sat up.

"Well that was certainly interesting." He said as he got to his feet. Now Lt. Cain was positive he had gone insane. First some giant human looking monster had killed the Fuehrer, who had then re-grown all his flesh and even his clothes. Now he was acting like had merely seen something of mild amusement, not almost been completely vaporized. In fact he was now looking at Apocalypse the way a scientist would study an interesting experiment result, a look that the metal giant responded with in kind.

"The true nature of the Homunculus is revealed." Apocalypse finally stated.

"Very astute." Bradley admitted. "Most would never make the connection, even the educated ones, with such limited information."

"Deliberately kept from the weak so they may not threaten the strong." Apocalypse added, glancing at Lt. Cain.

"Again true." Bradley acknowledged. "You claim not to be with Magneto but yet you share his beliefs, the superiority of one species over another."

"His is a narrow and limited vision." Apocalypse scoffed. "Only the strongest, be they mutant, or otherwise," He added with a glance at Bradley. "have the right to survive. I sense that your kind can appreciate that."

"Survival of the fittest is something we Homunculi most defiantly agree with." Bradley stated with a cruel smile. "Though the weak do have their uses, pathetic as they are." He continued, glaring at the terrified Lt. "And that's why you're here isn't it? To learn all you can about alchemy to make sure you are the fittest to survive on your world?"

"I am already the fittest to survive in my own world, or any other." Apocalypse stated in an angry tone. "Your science of alchemy will allow me to ensure even more of the weak will be extracted from the worthy when the time comes. As well as grant me the ability to make those who I _know_ shall be worthy."

"I don't understand." Bradley said in confusion. "All this effort only so you can create chimeras? You would have been able to do that simply by reading normal scientific journals." This time instead of becoming angry the mutant responded with low, almost mirthless laughter. Bradley frowned at the mockery, not caring to be insulted even by someone as powerful as this mutant appeared to be.

"Chimeras?" Apocalypse questioned. "Do you truly believe me to be so short sighted I would be satisfied with abilities of mere animals?" He asked in a tone of superiority. Bradley's frown deepened. The traits imbued to human/animal chimeras, while varied, made them vastly superior to normal humans. Apocalypse had not mentioned what abilities he could give his 'creations' but they obviously were greater than any normal animal found in existence. But if that wasn't what he was after it meant one of two things.

"You're trying to perfect human transmutation or create your own philosophers' stone. Neither of which are possible by human minds, no matter how advanced." He stated in his own superior tone. Again he expected an angry reaction from the mutant but instead Apocalypse stayed surprisingly neutral.

"I have already perfected what you call human transmutation. While your primitive methods are brutish and random when combined with my knowledge and science they will enable me to refine the process make even greater creations." Bradley frowned at the mutant's boasting but he did notice something. Only one half of his accusation had been addressed. That meant….

"And while you want to create a philosophers' stone you didn't have enough time to gather sufficient information before we stopped you." Bradley stated.

"A momentary setback." The mutant said in dismissal. "Any information I require further can easily be obtained without your interference." He stated and raised his hand, which began to glow.

"That would be ill advised of you." Bradley calmly stated, able to see Apocalypse's plan. "Just because there is one Homunculus in power doesn't mean there aren't others. Others who will know you are an imposter, and once they figure out what you're after all records of the philosophers' stone will be destroyed." Of course that was an out and out lie. His master needed the philosopher's stone but if the mutant knew he could still get it without him Bradley was sure the next blast would reduce him to nothing but smoke. It was doubtful if even _he_ could survive something like that.

"Such a threat would only work if possession the philosopher's stone is a necessity to me." Apocalypse countered. But he also didn't fire and Bradley saw his opportunity.

"But you still want it. You just can't abandon an item of such power when you know it's within your grasp." Apocalypse said nothing but again did not fire. "We'll work on equivalent exchange. You show us how to perfect the chimera process and I'll authorize it so you have every bit of information about the philosopher's stone that's known to both man and Homunculus. That way you could ensure that only the strongest will survive on this world as well as yours." Bradley had to admit to himself that it was a desperate argument but so long as it worked that would be acceptable.

"The presumption that I would agree to an alliance based solely on the need for your help shows that your arrogance knows no limits." Apocalypse said as he narrowed his eyes. Bradley tensed up and waited for the flash but the light that was in the mutant's palm winked itself out. "But you also show the correct mindset for one that believes in survival of the fittest. You shall have my aid, however I require access to the mutants who have already arrived on your world to show you the true potential of the chimera process."

"A chimera of a regular human and a mutant." Bradley said, stroking his chin in as if the idea had never occurred to him. "The results would be quite spectacular." Of course that's what the intention was from the start but with Apocalypse's help most of the trial and error could be removed. And if what the mutant said was true they would be able to circumnavigate the laws of alchemy while achieving the same results. He turned his attention back to Lt. Cain, who still seemed to be paralyzed with fear. "Lieutenant!" He barked roughly. Out of reflex Cain came to attention.

"Y..Y..Yes s..s..i..iir." He stammered. He sounded as terrified as he looked.

(Good.) Bradley thought to himself. (That means he's more likely to do exactly what I tell him to.) Aloud he said. "If you want to hold on to that miserable excuse for a life you have for a little longer you're going to help in this newest endeavor." He stated in a forceful tone that conveyed just how bad things would be if Cain didn't. The Lieutenant gulped loudly and nodded his head. "In a few hours there will be a train leaving from the east station. It is on no schedule but you'll know which one it is. The commander of the train will be Colonel Jacobs. You will report to him and state you are to join the recon squad attached to his company. He'll know what you mean and will direct you to them. When you report to the commander of the recon squad you are going to tell him these words: That under orders of the Fuehrer you will accompany them to ensure the quality and good condition of the information they are looking for. Those words exactly, otherwise you will be shot dead. Of course you will also _**not**_ tell anyone else about what has transpired in this room, will you Lieutenant?" He asked in a menacing tone.

"N..N…No sir!" Cain was barely able to answer.

"Good. That shows you are a loyal solider." He said in an almost praising way. "Just remember, should you speak about this to anyone what happens to you, and your family will be much much worse then being shot. Am I understood?" He asked in an even more menacing tone.

"Absolutely sir!" Cain managed to squeak out.

"Then dismissed." Bradley said as almost an afterthought. Lt. Cain snapped a quick salute then turned and ran from the room.

"Allowing him to live will become a liability." Apocalypse warned as he watched the Lieutenant run off.

"Unlikely." Bradley said confidently. "His fear will ensure his loyalty. If not for himself then for his family. He could be useful in other capacities as well." Of course he wasn't about to tell Apocalypse what those other capacities were.

"You take a great risk Homunculus. Were his fear to become too great he would betray you regardless of any threat." He talked down to the artificial human in a condescending tone.

"I assure you that I'm not the only one taking a great risk." Bradley said as he glared at Apocalypse for taking that tone of voice with him. It was meant as a warning for Apocalypse not to cross him but both of them knew how things were going to play out. When one side had what it wanted they would betray the other at the first opportunity that presented itself. The only real difference was that Bradley had more to worry about from that betrayal. While he had whole armies at his disposal and the other Homunculi if need be this mutant could destroy him with literally a wave of his hand. Coupled with the fact that currently he had no idea what weapons would be effective against him careful steps needed to be taken. Otherwise he would have tried to kill the mutant here and now for talking to him in such a way. "And you may address me as Pride." He wasn't about to suffer backtalk from any human, no matter how advanced or powerful they were.

(A/N: Sorry about the lack of action in this chapter but story development turned out to take longer then I anticipated. Don't worry though as things will be coming together in the next chapter.)


	11. Massacre

Chapter 11: Massacre

"In a little over an hour we will be arriving at our destination." The sudden voice snapped Lt. Cain back to reality, lost in his own thoughts as he stared out the window at the countryside rushing by. "Conventional tactics dictate that we are to strike hard and fast at the enemy stronghold, with nothing held back. I'm sure I don't need to remind you that we are anything but conventional."

Most other times a line like that would have been considered a joke, something to break up the tension before a mission. Not here, not with this man. Like the others in the 'recon squad' he had the rank of private but unlike them he had the camouflage uniform commonly assigned to scouts in forward units identical to the one Cain now wore. Of course no one was a real private, Cain himself had been unofficially demoted so he could move freely without arousing suspicions. The unit commander had made it clear that they were to remain out of sight and maintain their cover, at all costs. He didn't say what would happen to anyone that compromised the mission but Cain knew just by looking at the man that he didn't want to find out.

It wasn't the unit commander's size that kept everyone in line. He was surprisingly a man of short stature, dark hair and wore a pair of black-rimmed glasses that made him appear younger then he actually was, which to Cain already seemed far too young to be leading what was obviously an elite black ops unit. It was his demeanor that kept everyone in line, and to the Lt. it bordered on frightening. At first glance the commander could be mistaken as pompous and arrogant, the way he spoke to his subordinates was always in a tone of unquestioned superiority, even referring to what had to be his superior officers almost in contempt. What set it apart from normal egotism were his eyes. They were focused and sharp, showing an intense drive behind them. The kind of drive that showed he was willing to do anything, _anything_, to accomplish his goals. Cain was sure that kind of intensity would have normally put the commander in an asylum, but instead the military had decided to put it to good use.

"The infiltration team will cover the assigned sectors on the north, south, east and west ends of the town, at the most likely entrance point the mutants will take." The commander continued, addressing the men that were in civilian clothes. "Lt. Cain." The Lt. sat at attention when his name was mentioned. "You and I will head to the castle directly, ahead of the 801st, but will not initiate contact before them. Our job is simply to observe and assess, and not to become involved in any way until I approve. Am I understood?" He asked in menacing tone.

"SIR YES SIR!" Cain immediately responded. The commander gave a slight nod in response.

"Good." Was his only response. "The rest of you have your assignments, and know what is expected of you." He added as he sat back down. It didn't sound like a reminder so much as a threat of what would happen if those expectations weren't lived up to.

"Everything's set." Winry stated as she finished checking over Ed's arm and shoulder before she connected it. "Are you ready Ed?" She asked. Ed's teeth were clenched and his flesh hand was now a tightened fist but she wasn't going to do anything until she was sure he was prepared.

"As ready as I can be." Ed hissed through his teeth. Winry didn't respond and instead snapped Ed's arm into place. Ed became stiff as a board and his eyes started to bulge but the only thing that came out of his mouth was a garbled _geeegghhhh_ before going limp as the worst of the pain passed.

"That's it? One clank and it's over?" A disappointed sounding voice asked. Despite the residual pain he was feeling Ed was able to gather himself enough to turn and give a death glare at their bodyguard that had been watching along with Al. "After being stuck with you brats for so long I was hoping for something that was worth it."

"Sorry if it wasn't the big show you were expecting." Ed snapped sarcastically as he flexed his new arm and fingers to make sure everything was working. What was he expecting anyway? As advanced as automail limbs were replacing them was essentially the same as changing the tire on a car provided the car itself didn't need repairs or adjusting. Take the old one off, put the new one on, simple. What did he want, lots of light and noise like when alchemy was performed?

"Don't suppose it matters anyway." Juggernaut said as he turned around. "So long as it gets me out of babysitting you shrimps I'm not gonna argue." He added as he started towards the door. Ed jumped to his feet at the sound of the word shrimp but was able to hold his tongue, barely. He didn't want to let Juggernaut get away with that but he was going away so he wasn't going to do anything to keep him around. Al and Winry looked on, amazed at Ed's self control, as he watched Juggernaut walk out the door and shut it behind him.

"Wow Ed, I didn't think you could…" Winry began, sounding impressed.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL HE WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO CLIMB A BLADE OF GRASS?" Ed screamed at the closed door, hopping up and down to keep himself from running after Juggernaut.

"…act so maturely." Winry finished, her expression just as flat as her words. Al added a deep sigh in agreement as Ed finished jumping up and down but continued to look at the door like he wanted it to explode. After a few more moments he managed to finally calm down a little and look over at the other two.

"Just wait until I…." He started to growl, still not completely calm.

"Brother, staying angry at him won't accomplish anything." Al told him.

"Besides, don't you have something more important to focus on?" Winry asked him sternly. The look of anger on Ed's face turned to confusion as looked at Winry, then turned sheepish a second later as he realized what she meant.

"Guess I kind of got carried away there for a minute." He admitted, sounding just as sheepish as he looked. Deciding not to reflect on his temper getting the better of him he walked over to Winry's workstation and picked up several spare nuts and bolts. Despite being banged up, dented and in some areas outright crushed Al had lost surprisingly little metal in their fight with Juggernaut and the spare bits Ed held would more then make up for it. "I guess you're going to tell me I should work on being calm?" He asked Winry humorously as he made his way over to Al, trying to lighten the mood.

"It never hurts to try new things." Al commented, eliciting a giggle from Winry.

"Hey! I thought you were supposed to be on my side!" Ed exclaimed in good humor as clapped his hands together. The flash of transmutation filled the workshop and when it faded Al was standing under his own power, not a sign of any damage he had received remained. "And there we go, good as new." He declared as Al stretched his previously ruined knee. "Feeling any better?" He asked his brother.

"Much." Al answered as he flexed his rebuilt hand. Of course he couldn't 'feel' anything but it was always disconcerting to not be able to use one of your limbs. "So what do we do now brother?" He asked. The look on Ed's face became serious, and Al could guess why. Now that the two of them were whole again they needed to concentrate on more unpleasant things, specifically the offer Magneto had given them.

"We're going to have to talk to him again." Ed told his brother, which caught Al by surprise. He didn't think Ed had come to a decision so quickly. "This time we'll get as many details as we can. How he's going to do it, how long it's going to take, and exactly what he wants us to do after it's over. _Then_ we'll start thinking about it." He finished. Now that sounded more like how Al expected his brother to think. Just like a scientist, approach a problem from every conceivable angle before deciding on a solution. Now with both of them unhurt they could put their full concentration towards making that decision.

"Thinking about what?" Winry asked from the side. The brothers turned to look at her, realizing that that hadn't yet told her what Magneto had offered them several days ago. "Just what did he tell you two?" She asked, knowing that they were talking about Magneto. She understood that they had wanted to keep it a secret from everyone who shouldn't know and she had gotten caught in the mix but with Juggernaut now gone there was no reason they couldn't tell her. If her experiences with mutants so far were any indication what she was about to hear would be very interesting.

"You might want to sit down for this Winry." Al told her, knowing that she might have a similar reaction to what Magneto had told them as they did the first time. The confusion was evident on Winry's face but she sat back down at her workstation. "Magneto thinks alchemy can make a big difference for mutants on his world…." He began.

As Al explained the details of the conversation to Winry on top of one of the castle's battlements that faced the town Lt. Hawkeye scanned the horizon with a pair of binoculars. She wasn't looking for any movement in the town itself, because of the distance from the castle and the surrounding woods it was impossible to see anything. What she was looking for would not be coming from the town anyway; it would be from the train tracks that led into the area, specifically the direction that came from Central. There was the occasional train stopping here, despite the remoteness of the area, and there had been a few that had arrived in the past couple of days but none contained the attack everyone knew was coming. There could very well have been spies or scouts in those first several and when she had voiced that concern to the Colonel he had told everyone that he knew that it was a strong possibility it had happened and had shot down the suggestion of sending one of their own men into town to act as their own spy before anyone could even mention it. There was only a small roster of people in the castle and anyone sent from Central was bound to have information on everyone here, making infiltration next to impossible.

Instead he had assigned only one lookout to keep watch as far away from the town as possible. One whose eyes were sharp enough to notice the subtle differences that would show that the attack was immanent, no matter how hard the other side tried to hide it. He had chosen wisely and Lt. Hawkeye was able to spot the smoke from the incoming train before anyone in town or the station itself would be able to see. As with the previous trains she studied the smoke carefully, and soon began to see all the signs that the enemy had almost arrived. The smoke was thicker and darker then the other train's, and wasn't moving forward as fast as the others had either. Everything pointed to an engine that was putting all its energy into hauling very heavy cargo, heavy machines or massive quantities of men and supplies. The type of cargo that had no use in this part of the country, unless it was military and they would have only one reason to come out this far. Lowering the binoculars she turned and began her decent down the stairs at a fast but unrushed pace. If she showed any sign that something was amiss it would arouse suspicions in their guests any they wanted to keep the situation under military control for as long as they could.

Unfortunately for the Lt. her attempts at keeping things secret had been foiled before she had even started. As she was headed towards the main levels of the castle the wall not very far from the door to the battlement began to stretch itself outward, like it was made of rubber instead of solid stone and someone was pushing it from the other side. The rubberized stone kept on stretching until it separated itself from the main wall in a humanoid shape. It held the color and texture of stone until a pair of yellow eyes opened where its face would be with red hair starting to flow from its head, followed by the stone exterior turning to blue skin and white clothes. When Mystique had fully dropped her camouflage she reached up and activated the small radio in her ear.

"It looks like company is coming." She said as she walked out onto the battlement. There couldn't have been any other reason. Magneto had assigned her to watch Lt. Hawkeye's actions the moment he learned she was the acting lookout. In that time Mystique had managed to memorize the pattern of the officer's movements, and while the Lt. did occasionally leave her post it was always at the same time, and now suddenly she had left an hour early. That meant something was happening, and as she looked in the direction she had seen the Lt. so fixated on Mystique saw nothing that seemed out of the ordinary. Still, she knew from experience that military types never broke their routine unless it was ordered or necessary.

"Gather the others and wait for my signal." Was Magneto's only response before her radio went silent. She couldn't help but smile, things were about to get very interesting.

At the same time Lt. Hawkeye had made her way to the Mustang's office. She knocked twice and entered before she could even be acknowledged. Only Mustang and Hughes were inside, Major Armstrong had been tasked with strengthening the castle's walls for the assault, and both turned to her and didn't say a word to her about just barging in like this. In fact that had been the signal they had settled on to make sure that it wouldn't be Mystique. Unfortunately that only meant one thing.

"How long?" Mustang asked.

"Fifteen minutes, twenty at most." Hawkeye responded. Mustang didn't have any outward reaction and simply nodded his head.

"They won't waste time with an infiltration through the woods, they'll go for overwhelming force and speed." He stated. "Find Major Armstrong and Fullmetal, they'll be helping Hughes and myself defend the main road. Tell Al about the passageway and give him a copy of the map, we need to get him into the tunnels as soon as possible. We haven't heard from the X-men and they're due to arrive anytime. If Fullmetal has a problem with that too bad, they'll both be more useful apart then together for this."

"Yes sir." Hawkeye responded with a salute before turning and this time actually running. There was no need to keep things quiet now and time was of the essence.

"Well Maes, let's get out there." Mustang causally said as took his gloves out of the desk drawer and put them on. "They'll be expecting a welcoming committee."

"And we wouldn't want to disappoint them now would we?" Hughes responded as he checked his gun and throwing knives.

Back in the workshop Ed and Al were just finishing up their explanation of the offer Magneto had given them to a wide-eyed Winry. Like the boys she had her own doubts about the sincerity of it and of the promise to not force them to fight. On the other side of the coin the thought of science so advanced it could give them back what they had lost, it made her mind boggle as to what kind of mechanical advancements they had on their world as well. Then again she was reminded of the old phrase 'If it sounds too good to be true….'

"Do you really think he'll be able to give you your arm and leg back?" She asked Ed. "And Al his body?" She asked, turning towards the younger brother.

"To be honest we don't really know." Al confessed. "He never gave any details on how he could do it. Or how exactly he managed to keep himself from getting old."

"Which is why we're going to ask for as many details as we can get about what he plans to do." Ed added. "Between the two of us we'll be able to sniff out any place where the science won't work and call him on it. After that happens it'll be easy to come up with a decision."

"But what if the science does work?" Winry asked hesitantly. Ed and Al didn't answer, just glancing at each other nervously. All three more or less knew the answer to that one. If the science did work then the brothers had some very hard thinking ahead of them. It wasn't a pleasant thought but it was one that would have to wait as their attention was drawn to the door and the sight of a more serious then usual Lt. Hawkeye looking at them.

"Forces from Central will be here in less then thirty minutes." She told them briskly. "Edward will be helping to defend the main road. Alphonse, you'll be meeting the X-Men and bringing them here through a tunnel system the Colonel recently discovered. I'll show you the entrance and give you a map so you can find your way to them. Winry, you're going to have to remain here for the time being, this area is well protected and inaccessible from the outside so you'll be safe. We'll send someone for you if we need a doctor." The three stared for a second, caught off guard at the suddenness of it but quickly recovered.

"What about Magneto and his people?" Ed asked, bringing light to the most pressing concern at the moment.

"Colonel Mustang requested that they not take part in this and to keep out of sight of anyone from Central." The Lt. replied simply. When she didn't continue the kids were able to guess what her silence meant.

"He didn't agree to it did he?" Al asked nervously.

"He only said that they would not start any confrontation." Lt. Hawkeye answered, again not elaborating but giving the subtle hint that Ed and Al should prepare themselves for another fight with the mutants. "Al, please hurry, we don't have much time." She prompted.

"Right." Al said as he started walking over to her. "I'll be back soon." He promised over his shoulder.

"Better make that real soon Al." Ed told him in a mock warning tone. "We don't want to be waiting around for you all day." Al turned and waved in response as he left the room with Lt. Hawkeye. Ed knew that despite the light tone he had put on the words Al knew the seriousness behind them. If he was able to bring the X-Men back here quickly they might be able to find a way to repel the attack without turning it into a bloodbath. In the meantime it was up to himself, Mustang and whoever else was defending the road to stall until that could happen. He just hoped that whoever Central had sent would decide to take their time.

As a matter of fact Colonel Jacobs had no intention of giving the castle defenders any more time then was absolutely necessary for his forces to reach their target. That was where their training for fast disembarkment came in. Even before the train had come to a complete stop specially designed ramps were readied on the cars carrying the vehicles, whose engines were started and ready. As the train slowed to a safer speed troops began to jump out of the still moving cars and start running for the road leading to the castle. The instant the train came to a full stop the ramps clanged to the ground allowing tanks and trucks carrying more troops to roar down them at dangerous speeds. It looked like chaos but it was an ordered form of chaos and the entire 801st had soon left the train and was headed towards the castle where Mustang and the alchemists were holed up.

Most were headed there anyway. A small group of men dressed in civilian style clothes ran away from the road and towards the town, splitting up into four different directions as they entered it before slowing to a fast walk to not attract any attention. The townspeople, focused so much on all the commotion going away from the town, paid little attention to someone who was moving farther into it. One of them happened to pass by a man in a white suit leaning against a building and reading a newspaper. Unlike the other people in this little backwater he had been expecting something like this and was keeping an eye open for anything that would seem out of place. Sure enough a man passed him dressed like ordinary person but with the focus and movement of a soldier. He glared at him as he walked by but between the hat that was placed almost over his eyes and the newspaper he was pretending to read he was able to give the impression that he never saw anything. Once the obvious spy had turned a corner the man calmly folded up his paper, put it under his arm, and began to follow.

On the other side of the tracks things were beginning to take some very interesting twists of their own as Lt. Cain was finding out. He had jumped off the moving train along with the recon squad commander and got his first surprise, not breaking anything when he landed. He didn't have much time to marvel at that as the commander was already heading towards the woods. He started to run after him but the commander stopped suddenly and looked over to the right. Cain was able to stop in time to avoid colliding with the other man but the commander took no notice.

"It appears that Colonel Jacobs has decided to operate outside the bounds of his orders." The commander stated. Lt. Cain looked and caught a fleeting glimpse of what the commander had. It was a single man, but unlike the other soldiers and even the two of them he was dressed in a vastly different uniform. One that consisted of branches, leaves and other shrubbery, making him almost impossible to see, even from this relatively close distance. On his back was a long rifle with a large scope attached. Their orders were to take the mutants into custody alive, injured if necessary but alive, and a sniper was only used when you wanted someone dead, no questions asked. "Let's just see what kind of plot our friend has set in motion." The commander added before taking off in the direction the sniper had gone, followed by the confused Lt.

Back at the castle Hughes, Armstrong and Mustang stood in the middle of the road not far from the castle itself. They were, as Hughes had put it, 'exposed as hell' but that was just what Mustang wanted. If they put up barriers or tried to stop them covertly they risked the main force breaking up and hitting them from multiple sides. With the speed that would be required for the attack to work, added with the anger Jacobs would be leading them with, Mustang knew that it would remain in one group. It would be a large, potentially overwhelming group, but it would still be just that one group.

"And here they come." Hughes commented. They weren't in sight yet, and they couldn't hear the engines either, but all three of them could feel the vibrations coming from the ground caused by the tanks.

"Just be ready when I give the word. I'm not entirely sure he won't just try to run us over." Mustang said as he waited. He wanted to hold off using force on Jacobs' men for as long as possible. Once it got to that point things would spiral out of control, especially with the mutants waiting in the wings.

"We are well prepared Sir. With three alchemists the odds may just be in our favor." Armstrong stated as he checked his gauntlets, the replacement one indistinguishable from the one that Juggernaut had broken.

"That's if the third alchemist gets here before the enemy does." Mustang said irritably, privately thinking to himself that this was not the time for Ed to go off and do things his own way.

Contrary to what Mustang was thinking Ed didn't plan to go off and do things his own way, at first. He actually was going to join the others on the road and help there but an opportunity came by that he couldn't pass up. After getting assurance from Winry that she was ok with being left alone during a battle (the fact that it was in a room of broken, highly advanced machinery didn't hurt) he had headed for the main entrance when he noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. Turning to look he was able to see the tail end of Magneto's red cape disappear around a corner. He didn't know exactly what the bastard Colonel had told the mutant leader when it came to facing down Jacobs but he was pretty sure 'Move around freely without my knowledge' wasn't it. Deciding that keeping an eye on their guest would prove more useful then going out to the road Ed started to follow Magneto as he made his way along the castle halls. Keeping as quiet as possible Ed followed him through several passages of the castle he hadn't seen yet then up a long flight of stairs. Ed was forced to hang farther back in the stairwell and was afraid he'd loose him if he went to another level of the castle but when he began to see daylight coming from above him he had a guess where Magneto was headed. Sneaking as close to the door as he could manage Ed saw Magneto standing on one of the castle's battlements, staring in the direction of town. As he stood there debating whether to hang back and stay hidden or let Magneto know he was being watched the mutant leader made the decision for him.

"There's no need to skulk around in the shadows Mr. Elric. I had expected the Colonel to try and assign me a handler but I did not think it would be you." He said, not turning around. Ed inwardly scowled at being caught, but figured since it was obvious Magneto knew he was here there was no reason to try and stay hidden.

"Mustang didn't send me." Ed replied somewhat irritably as he walked out onto the battlement. "I wanted to make sure you weren't going to do anything that will make this worse. It looks awfully suspicious when you're walking around by yourself. Somebody had to keep an eye on you."

"And without your brother I see. Curious." Magneto pointed out. Ed grimaced slightly at the not quite accusation that he was attempting something underhanded himself. He didn't want to tell him that the X-Men were coming and began thinking of an excuse for Al not being there when Magneto spoke again. "As I told the Colonel, I will not start any hostilities but I will not back away from them either. If your government chooses to use violence against myself and my people I will respond in kind." He stated with finality.

"There are other options." Ed told him as he approached the mutant leader, who remained motionless. "I don't like the bastard Colonel but he's bound to have a plan up his sleeve, and as much as I hate to admit it they usually work. If you hold off getting involved….."

"Whatever plan the Colonel has it will be insufficient against men motivated by greed and revenge such as they are." Magneto interrupted. "He may be able to slow them down, but stop them? I believe we both know the answer." He paused for a moment before continuing. "As for not becoming involved. Would you be content to hide and let other people fight your battles for you?" He asked. Ed remained silent, and that was more then enough of an answer. Ed wondered if he should do something to stop Magneto now, before things got out of control. On the other hand he had said that he would let Mustang handle things to a point, and that gave the Colonel a chance to defuse things before they started. He just hoped that his jerk of a C.O. was able to pull it off.

Unknown to Ed, Magneto, or anyone else at the castle, Jacobs was already planning to go beyond the point of no return. Jacobs was sure it was only two people who knew about this plan, but he didn't count on the other two men following the sniper that had vanished into the woods. It had been a challenge for the two of them to keep the man in sight and not be spotted themselves, but somehow they had managed follow him until he reached his shooting spot and took his position. Lt. Cain and the commander could see the castle in their line of sight, as well as several prime targets out in the open. Taking out his own pair of binoculars the commander began scanning the general area the sniper seemed to have his rifle pointed in. He saw three men in military uniforms standing in middle of the road, facing the direction Jacobs' attack was coming from. Looking over the castle itself he saw a child with blond hair and a red coat standing behind someone wearing a dark red and purple costume with a cape and head-concealing helmet. According to his intelligence that would be Edward Elric and Magneto respectively, and this lead to a problem. If it had only been State officers he would have been content to let the sniper shoot whoever he pleased, they weren't important. But with one of the mutants as a potential target it jeopardized all the plans that had carefully been laid. True Jacobs was under orders to use less then lethal means to deal with the mutants but after becoming overzealous in Reesembol and turning it into a disaster it wasn't out of the question he would be looking for a way to make sure his troops didn't have the same problem this time. Even if it wasn't the same group of mutants.

"Ready to fire on my order." The commander said in a barely audible whisper as he took his rifle off his back and aimed it at the sniper. Lt. Cain hesitated before following the commander's order.

On the main road the three officers could now hear the engines of the vehicles rapidly approaching them. Mustang was still annoyed that Ed had chosen now of all times to conveniently ignore his orders but there was nothing he could do about that at this point. As the first tank emerged from the woods Mustang stood stock still with a neutral look on his face, his stance mirrored by his two subordinates. More and more tanks and troops began pouring out of the woods but the three remained motionless even as the lead tank bore down on them. For a moment Mustang was sure the driver would speed up and try to squash them flat but the vehicle slowed to a halt and was swiftly imitated by the convoy. That they stopped was the good news, the bad news was that all the troops and most of the tanks had their weapons aimed at them.

"Is there something I can help you gentlemen with?" Mustang casually remarked to the literal wall of weapons he was facing. He couldn't see Jacobs himself and wanted to lure him out into the open and incapacitate him. With no one to lead them hopefully the rest of the unit would stand down. Sure enough the taunt was enough and the turret of the lead tank opened and Jacobs stood up in it.

"I believe you know exactly why we're here Colonel, and that standing aside would be you best course of action." He barked at the other officer.

"Actually no I don't know." Mustang responded calmly, which made Jacobs actually do a double take. "I haven't received any calls from Central command or any official documents lately so I had no idea that you would be coming, let alone what it was for." Jacobs began to turn red with anger.

"Don't you play dumb with me Mustang!" He shouted. "We know several of those renegade alchemists are here and they are to be surrendered to our custody immediately!"

"Well if those are your orders…."Mustang began, to which Jacobs began to smile triumphantly, thinking he had outdone the young upstart. "You'll have no problem showing us the authorization papers, with the Fuehrer's signature of course." Jacobs glared at Mustang. "If you don't have them right on you I can allow you plenty of time to bring them to me. We can wait." He added. Normally egging someone on in a tank wasn't a smart idea but Mustang needed Jacobs to act first. He was confident he could stop the other man in mid order and things would be a clear cut case of self defense, something that would complicate things even more for whoever was behind this conspiracy. For a moment it looked like it was going to work. Jacobs turned even redder and was shaking in anger over Mustang's dismissive words but he was forcing himself to calm down.

"Colonel Mustang, rest assured…" Jacobs began, angry but in control as he reached up and took his radio headset off. "…that I do not…." He stopped as what sounded like a salvo of gunfire suddenly erupted from the woods behind Mustang, Armstrong and Hughes. The only thing that kept the three officers from diving for cover was that none of the bullets were whistling past them. They all looked back to see what was going on then, seeing nothing, turned back to face Jacobs, who now had a look of absolute confusion rather then anger on his face.

In the woods the sniper had watched the exchange between Jacobs and Mustang though his scope, keeping the crosshairs near the back of the latter's head while waiting for the signal the former had given him. When Jacobs had taken off his headset the sniper had shifted his rifle so he now had Mustang dead in his sights and tightened the weapon even farther against his shoulder. He never heard the whispered order from behind them, and was only able to hear the first couple of shots before one of them slammed into his own head.

The commander had noticed the slight movement from the sniper and knew he was about to take the shot.

"Now." He ordered quietly. Lt. Cain acted without hesitation and began firing at the prone man. The two of them kept on firing as fast as they could until the clips of their semi auto rifles ran out, not taking any chances. Stepping closer as they reloaded Lt. Cain could see it was more then enough. Blood was soaking through his camouflage in more then three places, including right next to the rifle. Turning the body over confirmed that the sniper was dead, his eyes wide open in shock.

"What do we do now sir?" Cain asked as looked back down at the standoff, which wasn't going to last much longer.

"What we do now Lieutenant," The commander said as threw his rifle away, sat down on the ground and pulled out his binoculars. "is we stay put, watch to see how this plays out, and appear as non-threatening as possible until it's all over." He waited a moment before continuing. "Lieutenant I know you are new to this but being as non threatening as possible usually involves being unarmed, especially if the other side has a counter sniper." Lt. Cain took one look at the rifle he still held, then at the small army that seemed to be looking right at him, before promptly throwing it into the bushes.

On the battlement Magneto and Ed watched the situation play out before them, unseen by either side. Both could see that Mustang was trying to goad Jacobs into doing something stupid and for a moment it seemed to be working. That was before the gunshots started ringing out from the woods. Like everyone else the two of them turned to see what was going on, not knowing if a second force was going to rush them any second. Nothing else emerged from the woods, not even more gunfire after the initial burst. After confirming that they weren't under attack from two sides they turned back to see the reactions from the people on the ground. One look at Jacobs' face told them everything. Something had just gone very wrong with whatever plan he had enacted, a plan that obviously involved killing someone from the onset. It could have been either of them, it could have been one or all of the three on the ground. Regardless of who the original target was it showed that things had already gone beyond Mustang's control, and was all the reason Magneto needed to become personally involved.

"Wait!" Ed shouted as the mutant leader headed towards the edge of the battlement, all but certain of what he would do. He tried to move forward but again his automail leg had become stuck to the ground.

"I do not intend to act rashly Mr. Elric." Magneto said, not turning around. "They will have a choice to leave or not and it will be their decision that forces my hand." Ed wasn't sure what to do. Magneto had just said he wouldn't outright attack the troops from Central but at the same time sounded sure that would be what happened. Knowing he would have to react in an instant if things went bad Ed slowly brought his hands near each other so he would be able to start a transmutation as quickly as possible.

Back on the ground Mustang and the others now trying to figure out how to salvage the situation when any attempt for control was suddenly ripped out of their hands.

"Colonel Jacobs!" A voice above them shouted. All eyes turned upward and say someone in a strangely colored uniform and face concealing helmet walk to the edge of one of the castle's battlements. "I believe your business here is with me, not them."

"Damn it! What the hell does he think he's doing?" Mustang said under his breath as every gun and tank cannon swerved to point up at the new arrival. There might have been a way to salvage this bloodlessly, one that he admittedly didn't see yet, but that wasn't an option anymore. "Get ready to protect Jacobs and his men." He told Armstrong and Hughes quietly as he took his gloved hands out of his pockets.

"By order of the State you and all alchemists under your command are hereby ordered to surrender into our custody immediately or force will be used!" Jacobs ordered Magneto.

"Colonel don't insult my intelligence." The mutant leader yelled back down, crossing his arms over his chest. "You were going to use force if we surrendered or not, your ill conceived assassination attempt more then proves that. You should count yourself lucky that it did fail, because had it succeed it would have been ample reason to show both yourself and your men no mercy." Magneto took note of the barely concealed look of anger that Jacobs now wore, and the subtle traces of fear shown by his troops. They definitely knew what he was capable of, or thought they did. "However out of respect for my generous hosts..." He nodded towards Mustang and the others " …I will give you this one and only warning. Leave. Now." Mustang silently cursed the other man. Yes he had just offered Jacobs a way out but by talking down to the other Colonel he more or less ensured that Jacobs' anger would override his fear and prevent him from taking that path.

"Traitors hold no authority to meddle in State affairs!" Jacobs bellowed, referring to Mustang but keeping his eyes on Magneto. "And foreigners do not give orders to officers of the State, alchemists or not!" He punctuated the sentence by banging on top of the turret he was in with his fist. It could have been a hidden signal like the one that told his hidden sniper to fire, or it could just be Jacobs venting his frustration on the tank, making the three on the road hesitant to make any offensive movement. Of course it turned out to be the former and the tank's main cannon thundered.

On the battlement Ed watched and listened to what was going on with a growing sense of dread. Magneto hadn't done anything to the forces from Central but at the same time he seemed to be daring them to try something. Colonel Jacobs rose to take the bait and had seemed to lose his composure and was yelling back up at him. Like the ones on the ground he didn't know if Jacobs punching the tank was merely his temper or an attack signal and it threw him off just enough. The cannon fired, too quickly to perform a transmutation, too quickly to even close his eyes and duck. As a result he got a perfect view of the cannon shell as it screamed towards Magneto, then screeched to a halt no more then an inch from his head and stayed there, floating motionless. The mutant leader had not outward reaction except to turn his head slightly, as if examining the projectile more closely.

"Solid copper." He mused after a few moments, loud enough for everyone to hear. "Someone is trying to be clever." He added as his gaze turned back down to Central's troops. Ed could only stare, dumbfounded, at the statement. Someone had been smart enough to make a tank shell completely out of a nonferrous metal to render it immune to Magneto's powers, but he had still been able to stop it. Ed knew that _theoretically_ a strong enough magnetic field could magnetize anything, even organic substances. But that only worked in theory, the sheer amount of power needed meant no one had scientifically proven it could be done, and most likely wouldn't be able to for several decades at best. Yet the man in front of him just showed he was capable of doing it, seemingly with ease.

Despite what Ed and everyone else may have thought catching the copper round like that wasn't exactly easy. Yes he could magnetize almost anything if he concentrated hard enough but to slow and stop a large, fast moving projectile like that had quite a degree of difficulty. He suspected something like this may occur and was counting on Jacobs to be angry enough to want to make the first kill by himself. By stopping that first 'alchemist proof' shell they might just realize the futility of this and leave, though Magneto was fairly certain of what the Colonel's next action would be.

On the ground similar things were going through everyone else's mind, even the ones that didn't understand the science behind what had happened. All they had been told was that they were armed with specially made bullets and tank shells that would render the most powerful of the outlaw alchemists helpless. And now here they stood as the one that these weapons were supposed to make helpless rendered _them_ as inert as regular bullets. Even Mustang, Hughes and Armstrong stood and stared in silence. Jacobs was no exception either but he knew that if quality failed, quantity wouldn't.

"Everyone fire at once!" He yelled, trying not to sound scared. "He can't stop all of them." Whether out of agreeing with their leader or just plain panicking the troops obeyed, all the guns in the company firing at once.

As soon as Ed heard the first sentence out of Jacobs' mouth he clapped his hands together. There wasn't much up here to work with but he would be able to create a shield of high-grade solid steel in front of himself and Magneto. It wouldn't last long against those tank shells but they could at least get out of here. To his surprise Magneto didn't try to get out of the line of fire, even though he knew what was coming. Instead the man threw his arms out to the sides and Ed saw the air around them appear to ripple with what looked like transparent, red tinged alchemic energy. Ed didn't know what was going on or how…whatever Magneto was doing would react to his own alchemy and knowing what had happened when he tried it on Juggernaut he hesitated. That's when the start of the barrage hit them. He saw the first shell explode and flinched, bringing his arms up to protect his face. But while he felt the stone beneath him shake and heard the ear shattering explosion there was nothing else. No heat, no shrapnel, not even the shockwave caused by a near miss. Bringing his arms down he saw just the latest in a long line of amazing sights since he found out about mutants. The field around them wasn't simply catching the incoming rounds, or even repelling them. It was stopping them dead through shear brute force.

The cannon shells exploded when they struck but except for only the brief flash of detonation and the noise that came with it nothing made it through the energy dome that surrounded them. Where the bullets impacted Ed could see sparks and heard the telltale _ping_ of ricochets as they flew off in all directions. All the while Magneto stood motionless, the close proximity to so many explosions and sheer volume of fire apparently not enough to break his concentration. Slowly the roar of fire began to fade, slowing down like water from a shut off faucet until only a few stray bullet strikes continued and then stopped, leaving a deafening silence behind. For a moment neither side made any move and just stared at each other. The troops from Central up in fear and amazement, Magneto down with contempt. After allowing the terror to fully sink in Magneto broke the silence with only three words.

"You were warned." He said coldly. As soon as the last world left his mouth the wall of the castle facing the main road exploded outward, forcing everyone to divert their attention from him. Mustang knew what was going on but didn't know who exactly would be following behind that explosion. At first it looked like only one as he saw a large form, undoubtedly Juggernaut, walking towards them out of the smoke cloud caused by the wall's partial collapse. As he exited the cloud they saw he was carrying the still bound Sabertooth. That was enough for Mustang. They might be able to talk down Magneto and even Juggernaut but if Sabertooth was let loose they would literally be dealing with a wild animal that needed to be killed in order to stop him. While Mustang was fully prepared to do that he didn't want to take that step just yet. Instead he brought up his gloved right hand and began shifting the oxygen concentration around Sabertooth's head. If he managed a controlled but highly concentrated blast concussion he would be able to cause the mutant enough serious brain damage that he would at least be out of the fight for the foreseeable future. It might have worked if not for something hitting his hand with enough force to almost knock him over.

"Colonel!" He heard Hughes and Armstrong shout. He didn't answer them, focusing on what had just hit him. It didn't feel like he was burned or shot, and even though no bones appeared to be broken he couldn't move his fingers, or bend his wrist. Looking at his affected hand he got a glimpse of some kind of hardened, cloudy green slime covering it down to about his forearm. He only had a split second to process that before he felt something hitting his _left_ hand in the exact same way as his right. Looking down he saw his second hand had also been covered with the same vile stuff that encased his right.

"Up there!" Hughes shouted, pointing and pulling out his gun. Turning around Mustang looked up and saw Toad somehow crawling along the wall of the castle as easily as if it was the ground. Looking down at the State officers he flashed them a grin full of rotten teeth before making a hacking noise and sending a ball of slime the same color as the kind that now covered Mustang's hands flying at Lt. Colonel Hughes. Hughes immediately started to back pedal but the slime still managed to hit his gun. He instantly let go of the weapon and yanked his hands back, ending up with only a few flecks of whatever that stuff was on his uniform and a now useless pistol on the ground. The three of them were trying to figure out how to deal with this new problem when the first tank exploded.

Magneto knew Mustang and his subordinates would try to stop him if the government troops did not yield, so a distraction was in order. One that would also prevent them from actually interfering with _him_ when the deception was reveled. Toad had done his job well, Mustang now had no access to his alchemy and the three of them were now concentrated on the diminutive mutant. Even most of the troops from Central were no longer paying any attention to him, either concentrated on the three's problems with Toad or the new threat presented by Juggernaut and Sabertooth. Very few of them noticed when the tank shell that still levitated in front of him turned around and shot towards the lead tank with the same velocity it had been fired at him with. There was a flash of light and out of nowhere what looked like a hand made of thick stone grew out of the battlement and almost caught the shell. The metal projectile proved faster then the stone hand and continued to its target, barely missing its fingers. Colonel Jacobs scrambled to get out of the tank and had gotten all but one leg out of the turret when the shell sailed past him and down into the very hatch he was trying to get out of. The vehicle went up in an impressive fireball and Magneto saw Jacobs thrown by the blast into the woods, only not in one piece. He didn't know if Jacobs was dead or not, but the head of the snake had been cut off, now it was time to deal with the body.

Ed saw the tank shell Magneto was levitating begin to turn and knew what and where he would fire it, back at whoever shot it in the first place, just to prove a point. He remembered the angle the shell had been fired at and after doing some quick calculations was able to determine what its flight path would be on the way back. Magneto's shield was still up so Ed wasn't worried about his plan hurting either of them when the shell blew up. Slapping his hands to the ground he completed his already started transmutation just as the shell finished turning 180 degrees and shot towards the ground an instant later. He couldn't see if he was fast enough and had to depend on the sound of the explosion to tell if he had made it in time. When the explosion came there was a sound of metal rendering, men screaming, and a fireball rising from the ground. Standing back up he looked over the edge and saw the wrecked tank and bodies of the men who had been standing near it. Even worse, he saw Juggernaut toss the still manacled Sabertooth towards a large group of soldiers. He wasn't manacled for long as his bonds ripped and snapped themselves off and flying away from him. Ed saw the crazed look in the mutant's eyes as he descended on the soldiers, fangs and claws bared. Even immobilized like this Ed was sure he could stop him and brought his hands together for another transmutation. Or tried to as instead of his automail hand his flesh hand thudded against something unfamiliar. Looking down Ed saw a small sphere of energy identical to Magneto's shield surrounding his automail hand.

"You will not be interfering Mr. Elric." The mutant leader told him without turning around. Ed started to shout something when the screams started. Looking back down Ed saw Sabertooth tearing into the soldiers like the wild animal he was, paying not attention to how many times he was shot or stabbed with a bayonet.

"Stop him!" Ed screamed at Magneto, who said nothing as he pointed an open hand at another tank. His hand snapped into a fist and the tank instantly crumpled into a giant metal ball. It didn't hold that shape long as the ammunition detonated, turning it into a burning hunk of twisted metal. He then made a sweeping motion with his arm, causing what was left the tank to take off like a cannonball and slam into a truck, which exploded as well. "You don't have to do this!" He shouted as he reached into his pocket. He had a feeling Magneto would take advantage of his metal arm and stop him from using alchemy so he had borrowed a piece of chalk from Al just in case the two of them came to blows. "There's dozens of ways to stop them without killing them, without _hurting_ them!" He knew he sounded desperate and pleading, but right now he'd do anything to stop the slaughter beneath him, which was only getting worse.

After Juggernaut had thrown Sabertooth he had charged at the tank nearest to him, either knocking aside or straight running over whoever got in his way. The force and distance the ones knocked away ensured they had a hard, and in all likelihood fatal, landing while the ones caught underneath his charge were crushed almost flat and died instantly. When he made it to the tank he didn't smash or rip it open, instead he went to the front of vehicle and lifted the entire thing off the ground. The tanks turret swung around in what was obviously blind panic and fired straight into the face of the giant that was lifting it. The resulting explosion engulfed both of them and for a few seconds no one knew what had happened. When the light and smoke faded Juggernaut still stood, his armor undamaged and still holding the tank like nothing had happened. The tank itself on the other hand had the turret sheared off from the force of the back-blast as well as most of its upper armor, rendering a burning wreck. Not slowed by the tank crew's effort Juggernaut marched up to the next tank in the column that hadn't been destroyed and swung the one he held like an oversized club. When he connected it sounded not like the CLANG of metal on metal one would expect, but almost like an explosion or a clap of thunder. The noise was followed by the sight of the second tank literally flying through the air and flipping end over end. It landed with an earth shaking crash and continued to skid along the ground, plowing up dirt and ramming through anything or anyone unfortunate enough to get in its way. Once that was finished Juggernaut lifted his tank over his head and effortlessly ripped it in half, allowing the fire to reach the main gun ammo and causing another explosion that he ignored completely. One half he threw at a third tank, the other at a truck that was trying to drive away. The third tank's front crumpled from the impact, almost flattening completely before it went up in its own fireball. The truck driver tried to swerve out of the way of the second half but it still clipped the back of his vehicle, sending it careening out of control and into a tree. That taken care of Juggernaut turned towards the last tank near him, which was backing up in a desperate attempt to get away. Once the driver noticed the giant looking at them the main cannon and secondary machinegun fired in a futile attempt to dissuade him. Being panic fire the shell hit his arm, leaving him mostly visible when it went off. There wasn't so much as a flinch and with the machinegun bullets bouncing off him harmlessly the tank's engine roared louder as it attempted to add speed. Juggernaut lowered his head and sprinted forward, quickly catching up to the retreating tank and running right through it as easily as he had the granite wall Ed had created. The explosion that followed ignited the fuel tank as he destroyed it, covering him in flaming gasoline. The only thing he did was slow to a stop and calmly look around for what he should attack next, continuing to stand there and burn like it wasn't happening.

Not that far away Sabertooth was surrounded by a growing ring of dead bodies that he was eagerly adding to, and looking like he was having the time of his life doing it. The bodies themselves were torn open, literally, mostly at the chest or the throat. The second of which Sabertooth preferred to do with his bare teeth. The ground was turning literally red and the few soldiers that were left threw their weapons away as they turned and ran in absolute terror. As he finished disemboweling his latest victim Sabertooth looked up to see the others running away and watched for a second, his bloodied teeth forming a cruel smile and letting out what sounded like a cross between a growl and a laugh. He was always up for a hunt and almost gave them an even larger head start then they already had but orders were to take them out as quickly as possible. Figuring it would be a good excuse to get in some target practice he picked up one of the discarded rifles and proceeded to methodically put a bullet into the back of the fleeing soldiers. Some dropped and didn't move, others went down and started screaming. After he fired his last bullet Sabertooth didn't bother to reload, grabbing the empty weapon by the barrel and holding it like a club as he walked over to the nearest soldier that was still alive. He didn't look angry with himself for not killing all of them with just one shot, as a matter of fact he was still smiling. That was because in his mind, fast didn't mean it couldn't be fun. As he reached the first soldier that was trying to crawl away from him he kicked him over onto his back, taking some pride in hearing several ribs break as he did. The wounded solider tried to crawl backwards but the large mutant stomped onto his chest and pinned him to the ground, breaking more ribs in the process. Looking up the soldier saw the bloodied, crazed smile the mutant was wearing and all color drained from his face. Ed looked away, not wanting to see what would happen but couldn't block out the screams that suddenly took a much louder and even shriller pitch.

The only thing that he could say that was going well was seeing that while Hughes, Armstrong and Mustang weren't having an easy time fighting Toad they weren't dead either, yet.

"Yes I could, very easily." Magneto agreed, snapping Ed out of the horror show he had been witnessing. "The X-Men did just that, and as you can see it was for nothing." He gestured with one of his hands and sent a jagged piece of tank armor crashing into, and through, several soldiers. "They will always come back, with even greater numbers and more powerful weapons, again and again. By showing them mercy they will continue to believe they have a chance to defeat you, and will not stop trying." He lifted up both his hands and in response two tanks that hadn't been destroyed yet lifted up into the air, until they were hovering at eye level with the two of them.

"But if you kill them they'll send more anyway!" Ed yelled as he was furiously scribbling a transmutation array on the stone floor. He needed to keep Magneto talking, keep him distracted until he was finished. "You'll _**prove**_ that they need to send that much force after you, and make them even more determined to kill you!"

"Then they will meet the same fate as the ones foolish enough to try in the first place." Magneto calmly stated as he brought his two hands together. The tanks followed suit and slammed into each other, crushing themselves flat. "If you can not break your enemies' will to fight, you must break his _ability_ to fight, totally and completely. That is how wars are won Mr. Elric." Ed gritted his teeth and was tempted to tell Magneto exactly what he thought about war to begin with but kept quite, his array almost complete. To his surprise Magneto lowered his hands and turned to look down the road the forces from Central had come from. Any soldiers and vehicles that had somehow managed to escape of the first three mutants were now running as fast as they could towards the woods. "Stop them." He stated. Ed couldn't figure out what Magneto was talking about because he sure as hell wasn't going to help kill anyone. Then the answer came.

FFFFFFOOOOWWWWWWSSHHHHHHHHHH

Out of the woods the retreating army was headed for came a rolling wave of fire that stretched from one side of the road to the other, starting at the ground with a height of almost eight feet tall. It swept over the front of the retreat covering them in flames as the ones farther back looked on in horror as the fireball engulfed them. Screams started anew and vehicles began exploding but they went unheard by the ones to the rear, who had turned and started to run away from the fireball. It meant they were running back towards the two that had decimated most of their forces to begin with but at this point fear was making them choose to take that chance. It didn't matter to begin with anyway. The fireball moved faster then any of them could run and soon swallowed up the last of them. The roar the enormous fire emitted started to die down as the wave seemed to lose momentum, slowing down as it burned itself out. After it had finally dissipated Ed continued to stare at the entrance to the woods where it had come from. He knew what had just happened, knew exactly who had made it happen. Sure enough Pyro slowly walked out of the woods, looking around at his handiwork, his face completely unconcerned with the fact many of the black, still burning lumps were once human beings. Ed also noticed something else. It had suddenly become very quiet. There was the crackle of fire and the occasional pop as ammunition cooked off, but other then that there was nothing, not even the screams of Sabertooth's victims. In the space of only minutes they had wiped out the entire company to a man.

"And now to make sure this doesn't happen again." Magneto stated as a smaller version of his shield surrounded him and he began to lift off of the ground.

"My thoughts exactly!" Ed shouted and slapped his flesh hand to the completed array. The ground began to glow and a shaft of light shot from it and surrounded Magneto. Once the light had completely covered the shield Ed completed the transmutation. When the light faded a large sphere of solid oak surrounded the mutant leader, secured to the ground by root like anchors. It wasn't the best solution but Ed was positive Magneto would run low on air before his cronies could save him. Once he was sure the mutant leader was unconscious he'd make a more permanent type of restraint. He was running several scenarios on what the mutant leaders' followers might try, and how to stop them, through his head with he first heard the cracking. At first it just sounded like sticks snapping, then it rose in volume, like branches being torn off in a storm. It reached a crescendo when it sounded like whole tree trunks being broken in half, which was when Ed was able to see the visible cracks in Magneto's wooden prison. With a final crack that almost sounded like the cannons that had just been shooting at them the wooden sphere blew itself to pieces, though the force was only enough to send the debris a couple of feet away. Looking on in amazement Ed noticed Magneto's shield was now slightly larger then it had been, larger then the wooden sphere he had created to hold him, and the shock quickly wore off. He didn't use magnetism to escape, just the simple physics of his expanding and much stronger shield against the wood. While it showed that his magnetic powers _did_ have a limit it also gave Ed something else to deal with if he wanted to stop him. One he didn't have much time to think about as Magneto turned around in midair to face him.

"An admirable attempt Mr. Elric." He said as he made a pushing gesture towards Ed. Ed's involuntary response was to be thrown through the air backwards, sliding along the ground, then back through the door into the castle, which Magneto promptly shut. "Though not nearly enough." He finished and turned back around.

Ed was on his feet the instant he stopped moving and scrambled for the door. He tried to pull it open but it refused to budge. Ed figured that the handle and lock had been magnetized in place, which meant it would take a lot of force to open it. Knowing he didn't have the time Ed decided to go with a more practical solution. If you can't get around an obstacle, go through it. His automail fingers had dug grooves in the stone and he tired to stop himself, which meant the miniature shield was gone and he was free to clap his hands and put his flesh hand to the door, just in case. The door glowed for a second before crumbling into a large pile of sawdust. Running back onto the battlement Ed could see Magneto flying towards the town, too far out of reach for his alchemy to stop him safely. He didn't have time to curse himself for not being able to stop him, or worry about what Magneto might do when he got to the town because the silence that had been so prominent a second ago was gone. In its place were loud crashes and shouting. Looking down he saw Lt. Colonel Hughes leaning against a tree, clutching the right side of his chest. Not that far away Major Armstrong was fighting Juggernaut, ducking and weaving out of the way of the larger man's punches. Closer to the entrance of the woods he saw Mustang facing down Pyro. Toad was nowhere to be seen but Ed did notice Sabertooth making his way towards Hughes, who was too preoccupied with the fight between Armstrong and Juggernaut to notice his approach. Knowing he had to stop the bloodthirsty mutant Ed transmuted part of the battlement's stone edge into a very long rope that he quick-slid down then ran straight for Sabertooth, who had his back to him.


	12. Caging the Animal

Chapter 12: Caging the Animal

When the first tank had exploded Mustang, Armstrong and Hughes had not turned to look at it. It was too late to stop it from happening and doing so would do nothing against the burning shrapnel that was flying everywhere. Because they didn't turn to look they didn't notice the half dome of red that formed in front of Jacobs' tank the instant before the shell hit, or how the shrapnel was deflected off it and away from them. All of them being veterans of Ishbal they didn't question why they weren't hit and instead focused on the objective at hand. That objective being the short mutant that was clinging to the wall of the castle more like a fly then his amphibian namesake. They expected him to cough up more of that disgusting slime but he managed to surprise them buy jumping off the wall. Not just jumping down, jumping off it like it was the floor, flying clear over their heads, and landing in behind them in a crouch.

"Colonel get back!" Hughes shouted as he and Armstrong put themselves between Mustang and Toad. Mustang started to protest. "You're not exactly in the best shape to fight now Roy." His best friend reminded him. Mustang looked down at his slime encased hands and realized he was right. He could fight without his alchemy but without even the use of his hands he was almost worthless now, and he needed to rectify that.

"Just keep him busy for a few seconds Hughes." Mustang said as he took a couple of steps back and slammed the two chucks of slime together. All he got was a dull thud and not even a chip for his effort. (It looks like _that_ is going take a while.) He thought to himself.

"We will give you all the time you need sir!" Armstrong promised and brought up his fists. Toad shifted his gaze to the Major, then snapped his head back towards Hughes, mouth wide open. Hughes prepared to dodge another slime ball but Toad decided to add yet another surprise onto the long list that had been growing since the mutants arrived as his _**tongue**_ shot out of his mouth and wrapped around Hughes' neck like a whip. Hughes and the others didn't have time to reflect on just how disgusting what had just happened was because Toad stood and spun his entire body around. Hughes, much to all of their surprise and his especially, was easily yanked off his feet and swung in the direction Toad had aimed himself. Just before the tongue would have snapped like the whip it was imitating, and Hughes' neck along with it, the appendage let go of the Lt. Colonel and sent him flying into the woods. There was a loud rustling of branches as Hughes crashed through them followed by a loud thud. To Mustang and Armstrong's relief that thud was immediately followed by a loud 'SON OF A ….!' telling them that while Hughes might not be in the best of shape after that landing he was alive and conscious. Unfortunately they had their own safety to worry about as Toad leapt into the air again and was aiming right for them. They split up and the mutant missed them both but the ground cratered slightly underneath his feet when he landed. Ignoring Mustang Toad turned to face Armstrong, who was reaching to restrain him, and leapt straight up this time. He only jumped up as far up as Armstrong was tall but he did spun as he did so, aiming a kick that would have, given what had happened to the ground, shattered the Major's jaw.

Would have…if Armstrong had not twisted his upper body and leaned back to make the kick miss him completely. Not about to let an opportunity pass by he grabbed Toad's ankle, yanked him upward so he would have an easier target, and punched him in the stomach. So not to cause any permanent injury Armstrong let go when the punch landed and the force was more then enough to send the mutant flying. When his flight ended he began tumbling end over end, arms and legs flailing like rag doll that had been thrown aside, his face more then once slamming into the ground. He finished the skull-smacking tumble with a long, face first skid that brought him to the edge of the woods. He slowly lurched to his feet coughing, just as much from inhaling all that dirt as from the punch itself. He fixed the two officers with an angry glare and a sneer that slowly changed to a toothy smile as he glanced to the side.

"Have fun." He stated before turning around and jumping into the woods. Mustang and Armstrong looked to the side and saw why Toad believed he didn't need to bother with them anymore. Slowly walking towards them, with patches of still burning gas dotting his frame, was Juggernaut.

"Sir I'm afraid I need to ask you to seek cover until you can free your hands." Armstrong stated as he removed his uniform jacket.

"Don't apologize Major. I intend to fix that very soon." Mustang answered as he turned around and held up his hands in a surrender position, looking at one particular widow. After two seconds ticked by and nothing happened Mustang began to worry. They hadn't been able to take into account the slime that encased his arms but he was sure Hawkeye would be able to figure out what he wanted. He had given orders to shoot to wound and she hadn't fired on Toad but he figured she was showing restraint until it was absolutely necessary to do so. Now that she wasn't doing anything to free his arms he knew something was wrong.

FFFFFFOOOOWWWWWWSSHHHHHHHHHH

Of course now would be the time for the universe to give him another life or death situation to deal on top of the ones he already had. Looking away from the castle he saw a giant, rolling fireball envelop what was left of Jacobs' fleeing unit. He didn't have time to consider what was going on with Hawkeye now, she could take care of herself. Right now he needed to get his hands free and stop Pyro before he turned that flame against them.

The reason for Hawkeye's lack of support turned out to not be because of restraint but because of her own immediate problems. The Colonel had given her the assignment to provide support and she had chosen a window that provided both the best view of the road and the best cover. At first she had kept the crosshairs of her scope on Jacobs, Mustang's orders not to kill unless it became necessary at the forefront of her mind. Things seemed to be going well until she heard gunfire off to the side. She quickly moved her position to take care of what sounded like a sneak attack but the angle was too shallow to allow her to see the area where the shots were coming from. As it was they were lucky, no one on the road was hit and Jacobs looked surprised and that told her that gunfire had actually foiled something. After that things started to go south. She heard Magneto talking to Jacobs, goading him into doing something so he could respond with deadly force. She could shoot Jacobs now, but that would cause the other soldiers to panic, resulting in the opportunity Magneto wanted. It was a moot point anyhow; Jacobs took the bait and had the tank he was in fire at Magneto. There was no explosion and from the looks on everyone's faces Magneto was somehow able to remain unharmed. Unfortunately it wasn't enough to dissuade Jacobs, who had his entire company open fire. This time there were explosions that shook the castle but the roof above her didn't come crashing in, and no debris were falling to the ground. The barrage slowed then stopped but she didn't have time to focus on the Central troops as a shout of alarm came from Lt. Col. Hughes and Major Armstrong. Shifting her gaze back to them she saw the Colonel staggering but no sign of an attacker or blood. What she did see was his hand and arm covered in some kind of green substance. She didn't have much time to think about it as a second glob of, whatever it was, flew down and hit him on the other hand. She could tell whoever was using that stuff was above her from the angles it had been…shot?...flung?... Lt. Col. Hughes confirmed it by pointing to somewhere over her head and then aiming his gun, only for a third glob to hit his weapon and knock it out of his hands. Hawkeye knew it had to be one of the mutants and was about to go upstairs to stop them when she heard it.

It was a very quiet creak of moving wood, one that was coming from right behind her. She had locked the door before setting up her shooting position and that sound could only mean one thing, someone was trying to sneak inside the room. Staying calm and remaining motionless so not to give any indication she had heard anything she closed the eye she had on the scope and opened her other one. Glancing at the glass in the window she was aiming out of she got a surprise when the reflection showed that not only was the door wide open the intruder was slowly making their way towards her. What wasn't as big a surprise was that it was a certain blue skinned mutant who was approaching her, holding a two by four piece of wood like a club. Mystique would rush and attack her before she could get ready if she knew Hawkeye was aware of her presence. Instead she tightened the rifle against her shoulder, giving the impression she was preparing to shoot something outside. Taking her steadying hand away from the barrel Hawkeye reached up to the scope to make what looked like a routine adjustment, all the while watching Mystique's movements. The mutant gave no indication she thought Hawkeye was up to anything. In fact she was smiling as she brought up her club to swing it when she got close enough, but she didn't hurry her approach, taking small, very light steps as she did. She was going to a lot of effort to remain quiet and get close in, Hawkeye noticed as she lowered her hand, instead of just shooting her when she got the door open. Her breathing was very controlled and she was now barefoot so that her steps would make even less noise. What Mystique hadn't counted on was that the wood covered floor of the room giving off that soft creek when she entered. It was barely audible even to her and she was sure Hawkeye would never had heard it with all the noise outside. What she forgot was that a sniper needed to be completely aware of their surroundings at all time. If there was a noise and you did not know exactly what had made it, no matter how slight, it could be the enemy closing in. It was a lesson that had served Hawkeye well in Ishbal and would now serve her well again and moved her hand not back onto the rifle but inside of he uniform jacket, out of the mutant's sight.

Mystique watched the Lieutenant for any signs she had spotted her, but there was none. There was no change in stance, no tensing up of muscles in preparation for sudden movement, not even any change of breathing. She had the other woman dead to rights, and would have taken full advantage of it if she could. But Magneto had made it clear that if they needed to fight the State officers who were stationed at the castle there was to be no killing. Injure them if it was necessary to incapacitate them but nothing more then was required. Unfortunately Lt. Hawkeye had proven she was indeed a dangerous opponent and would 'require' quite a bit more then a regular human. Mystique full intended to follow her orders to the letter. What she had in mind would not kill Hawkeye, it wouldn't even result in permanent injuries. How long it would take for the Lieutenant to fully recover, that was another story. She heard things becoming worse outside, and in response Hawkeye tightened her brace on the gun and reached up to adjust the scope. She should rush in now while the other woman had one hand off the weapon, but that meant she had one hand free if she didn't go down first swing. Finished with the adjustment the Lieutenant reached to re-steady the rifle and leaned forward slightly. It looked like she was aiming for something directly below her and that suited Mystique just fine, it meant she was that much more exposed. What didn't quite suit her was the three sharp cracks that came out of nowhere accompanied by three holes bursting out of the back of Hawkeye's jacket. It suited her even less when, despite her flinching away, one of the bullets caught her in the arm.

"DAMN IT!" She cursed, both because of being shot and that Hawkeye had known she was there all along and had fooled _her_ into thinking she was oblivious. Well with her cover blown there was no need to be sneaky anymore so she lunged at the state officer.

Hiding her hand as she reached into her uniform jacket had been the riskiest part of Hawkeye's plan, if it appeared like she was reaching for anything but the rifle it would look suspicious. So to make sure the mutant couldn't she leaned forward slightly, hiding the entire weapon from Mystique's view. Only then did she reach for one of her pistols. Not able to draw the weapon and turn in time Hawkeye went for the more direct approach and fired through her jacket. Hitting the mutant at this distance should have been easy but between the very odd angle the weapon was at and compensating for the extra weight of the holster she would be lucky if she got a grazing hit. As it turned out she did send one straight into Mystique's arm and got what she wanted to begin with, the mutant paused and gave her an opportunity to turn around. She brought the rifle up and blocked Mystique's swing and started to push back hoping to get the mutant far enough away from her to bring her guns into play. Mystique responded by kicking Hawkeye in the stomach, slamming her against the wall next to the window she had been sniping out of. The wind was knocked out of her but Hawkeye still had the presence of mind to keep her eyes on her opponent as Mystique brought the two by four down on her head. She turned to the side to avoid the blow then swung the butt of her rifle at the hunk of wood that had nearly hit her. Dropping her rifle and going for her handguns would only give Mystique another opportunity to swing so she decided to deny her the full use of her weapon and splintered the wood with one hit. She found out that Mystique was no stranger to adapting in combat either as the moment the weapon broke she dropped it and lunged at her. She grabbed the barrel of the rifle with one hand and used her wounded arm to grab the gun near the trigger. The two women tried to wrest the weapon from the other and Hawkeye was able to notice that while the mutant appeared to be naturally stronger then her Mystique's wounded arm caused her grip on the lower portion of the weapon to be significantly weaker. Setting her feet and squaring her shoulders Hawkeye took full advantage of that by pushing on the lower part of the weapon as hard as she could. As she expected Mystique's wounded arm couldn't handle it and she was able to ram the butt of the rifle into the mutant's stomach. Mystique grunted and bent over slightly but she was able to keep her grip on the rifle. A second blow to the stomach convinced her to let go of the weapon. Hawkeye immediately followed that up by swinging the rifle butt upward, catching Mystique across the face with a very audible CRACK. The mutant stumbled backwards as a result of the blow and Hawkeye brought the rifle down level to her stomach. Bringing it to her shoulder and sighting it would take too long and it would be nearly impossible to miss at this distance even firing from the hip.

She didn't want to kill Mystique, _yet_. The blue mutant had the chance to just shoot her in the back and be done with it and she hadn't and what she did know about the other woman's personality is that she would have been more then happy to take the 'in the back' route without a second thought. But she hadn't, and that told Hawkeye someone had specifically told her not to. Even then she didn't use a gun, which she could have easily stolen, but a piece of wood. It was apparent that Magneto didn't want her dead, and against her better judgment she decided to honor that by not trying to kill his subordinate outright. A shot to the stomach was by no means pleasant, but it wouldn't be instantly fatal either and in all likelihood wouldn't be anyway with the medial resources they had. More importantly it would keep the mutant incapacitated for the remainder of her stay. Mystique was still trying to recover her wits as Hawkeye squeezed the trigger of her rifle, and got a flat sounding click in response. 'Misfire' flashed through her mind and she reacted accordingly, reaching for the bolt to clear the defective round then load and fire a new one before Mystique could recover completely. She didn't even get past step one as her hand landed not on the handle of the bolt only on the wooden stock of the gun. There was no possible way for her to have misjudged the distance in a motion she could do in her sleep, and feeling around the area without taking her eyes off Mystique she realized that the bolt wasn't open or broken, it wasn't there period. The surprise must have shown on her face, despite her best efforts, because Mystique was now smiling at her in amusement.

"Loose something?" She taunted, holding up a hand and showing her the bolt from the rifle. "Someone really should be more careful with their toys, you never know when they might break." She mocked, swinging the bolt back and forth like a person teasing a dog with their favorite treat. Hawkeye narrowed her eyes, midway between being angry and impressed that Mystique had been able to remove the bolt completely without her noticing it. In response the mutant threw the bolt out the door, far out of either of their reach. "I've always enjoyed getting up close and personal anyway." She remarked as she took a small knife out of the confines of her clothes, snapped the blade open, and rushed at Hawkeye.

The Lieutenant knew that Mystique was counting on her to use hand-to-hand combat with the rifle as a club. A situation that would give someone fast and wielding a knife the advantage. Hawkeye had absolutely no intention of obliging the mutant and instead took a different approach, throwing the rifle right at her. There was no way it would have injured her, and Mystique seemed too sure footed to stumble over the weapon when it fell to the ground. However the mutant still had to contend with the useless rifle actually hitting her, and the split second she would need to bat it out of her way. In that split second Hawkeye was able to draw her pistol and come up with a plan to end this fight. She didn't waste time aiming the weapon, it would have been impossible to properly aim it in the short amount of time anyway, and instead let Mystique finish her sprint at her. The mutant slashed at her with the knife, which Hawkeye deftly avoided. Before Mystique could try again Hawkeye grabbed her wrist, twisted it hard to make her drop the knife, and jammed the gun into the blue mutant's chest. The gunshot was quieter then normal with Mystique's body acting as a silencer but there was nothing abnormal about her face as the bullet passed through her. Her eyes widened in pain and shock as she gasped for air, a gasp that quickly turned to a gurgle as blood started coming from her mouth. Knowing the bullet had done its job Hawkeye let go of Mystique and backed away as she collapsed to her knees, doubling over and clutching her chest.

"You can now do one of two things." Hawkeye calmly informed the wounded mutant, gun still trained on her. "You can keep trying to fight me and bleed to death on the floor. Or you can give up and let me stabilize you so we can get to you Winry." In response Mystique gasped again and almost fell face first onto the floor. Hawkeye was debating whether to help her regardless if she had surrendered when Mystique jumped up and slashed at her again with the knife she had retrieved while pulling the sick act. Even caught off guard Hawkeye was able to avoid the worst of the attack but the knife still managed to open a deep cut across her cheek. Not feeling any pain Hawkeye instinctually swung the butt of her pistol and caught Mystique in the jaw. It stunned the mutant significantly enough for Hawkeye to follow up with a punch that landed square on Mystique's nose. She didn't feel the nose break but her punch was enough to send Mystique staggering back and enabling her to get a bead on her with her pistol. Mystique regained her footing and looked at the Lieutenant, and more importantly the gun she had aimed at her.

"Awwww. Looks like someone is mad that they fell for the oldest trick in the book." Mystique taunted, trying to get Hawkeye to lower her guard and leave herself open again. The gun didn't move and the Lieutenant's eyes didn't shift from their target. "A shame really, since that's going to leave a really ugly scar. And on such a cute little face to, what a waste."

Hawkeye ignored Mystique's taunts and creepy flattery and concentrated on what was important, winning this fight. She had bought some time but now she was in real trouble. Here was another mutant that could heal injuries quickly and short of killing her that meant…wait a minute. The arm where she had shot Mystique before, it was still bleeding. And the mutant still held it like it was in pain. Shifting her eyes Hawkeye saw it was the same for the hole in her chest. It wasn't bleeding as badly as it should be but it was still bleeding. But if injuries were permanent to her then how…..?

"I see you're impressed." Mystique remarked with a proud smile. Hawkeye mentally cursed herself for allowing her surprise to show on her face, _again_. "Being able to rearrange your internal organs really comes in handy don't you think? Doesn't give the person shooting at you anything to aim at." She added with an arrogant smirk. Hawkeye didn't immediately respond, not wanting to give any indication of what she was planning, what she had just learned. It may have been a ruse to make her waste the last of her ammunition but the only option Hawkeye had left was to use the hint Mystique had inadvertently given her.

"The enemy always has something to aim at." She said coolly as she lowered her weapon. This time confusion crossed Mystique's face and Hawkeye took her chance, quickly raising her gun and firing before the mutant could react. Her aim was again dead on and struck the hand holding the knife. Hawkeye saw the bullet pass all the way through and with a shriek of pain Mystique dropped the weapon. Instead of trying to retrieve the dropped knife Mystique grabbed her wounded hand, and Hawkeye could see that because of the bullet wound to that arm the grip wasn't that strong. "Bones are apparently what I need to aim at with you." She said, seeing the pain and distress on Mystique's face was genuine and not a ploy to disarm her.

"You stupid little bitch!" Mystique snarled, glaring at the other woman. Hawkeye's face remained completely neutral as she lowered her gun again and fired her last bullet. Mystique yelled in pain again and fell to the floor, this time against her will. No sooner had she finished falling then she grabbed her ankle, which now had a bullet lodged in it.

"I can do this for as long as you want." Hawkeye warned Mystique as she dropped the empty clip from her gun and put in a fresh one. This time Mystique laughed at her words.

"You wouldn't." She sneered, sure that the human wouldn't have the guts to keep on putting rounds into a down and crippled opponent. Her call was immediately answered with another gunshot and a searing pain in her other foot. She looked at the Lieutenant's calm face with a shocked expression of her own. Turning her attention towards her lower extremities she expected to see something that only vaguely resembled a foot but to her surprise except for a long gash across the top everything was in one piece.

"I'll do whatever is necessary to make sure the others around me are safe." Hawkeye calmly stated. Mystique turned back and saw the gun was still trained on her. "Whether I want to do it or not." She added. Mystique had no trouble translating that one. The shot in the foot had been her final warning; if she made Hawkeye fire again she was in for a world of misery. She might hate herself for doing so but the Lieutenant was fully prepared to take those actions without hesitation. Part of her wanted to keep goading Hawkeye to shoot her even more, just to make that self hatred pile up but another part of her respected the other woman for willing to go to such lengths. Besides, being shot was never a fun experience and she had enough of it for one day, these things were starting to really _**hurt**_.

"I knew there was something to like about you, and not just because you're another pretty face." She said with a grin. Hawkeye just glared back down at the other woman. "All right all right. I officially give up." She groaned as she sat herself up against the wall. Hawkeye didn't lower the weapon. "You don't trust me. Smart. But I am sitting here bleeding and I really don't want to have to crawl to wherever that girl Winry is." Hawkeye frowned. Yes she couldn't just let Mystique bleed to death but she also had to help Colonel Mustang and the others.

"The situation outside requires my help." She stated, even though there weren't any noises coming from the window anymore.

"No it doesn't." Mystique told her flatly. Hawkeye's eyes narrowed and her grip tightened on the gun. "We were all told to keep you occupied but not seriously hurt. Come on you're a smart girl, you should have figured it out by now."

"I figured it out the moment I spotted you." Hawkeye told her. Mystique blinked in surprise. Guess she was smarter then she gave her credit for. "But what about Sabertooth?"

"Juggernaut said he would keep an eye on him. Your boys in uniform are perfectly safe." Mystique promised her. She knew she shouldn't trust the blue mutant, but her actions proved she was telling the truth, at least when it came to what _she_ was doing.

"All right." Hawkeye finally said, putting her gun back in its holster. She really didn't want to put her trust in the other mutants but her conscience wouldn't let her have Mystique just sit there and die. "Stay here until I get back. Move and you'll get worse." She warned.

"Don't worry. I couldn't go anywhere if I wanted to." Mystique groaned and grabbed her ankle. Even though she still didn't trust her Hawkeye nodded and began to leave the room. "One last thing." Mystique added. Hawkeye stopped at the doorway and looked at the wounded mutant. "You don't happen to have a twin sister with a better sense of humor do you?" She asked with a mischievous smile. Hawkeye frowned and left the room, shaking her head in disgust. "Complete and utter stick in the mud." She chuckled as she leaned back against the wall and waited for her medical attention.

Outside things the other state officers would have had trouble believing Mystique's statement that the mutants weren't trying to seriously hurt them. Most of all Hughes, who was picking himself up off the forest floor and brushing off various pieces of the branches he had crashed through during his fall. It sure didn't _feel_ like Toad had gone easy on him with that throw. Then again he realized he had another aspect of that he had to deal with.

"I'm going to need a dozen showers after this." He mumbled as he wiped off some of the slime that had been left on his neck by Toad's tongue. His thoughts of disgust were cut off as he heard a slight rustling in the leaves above him. He brought out one of his throwing knives and prepared to throw it where the noise had come from but he couldn't see anything in the trees branches. "Great, now I'm jumping at shadows." He berated himself as he lowered his knife and began to turn away. Then without warning he quickly turned back around and threw not one but several knives at the spot where the noise had come from.

"YAAAAAA….. OW… OW …OW!" He heard Toad shout before more branches began to rustle in a way that indicated movement, downward movement. More shouts accompanied them before Toad finally fell out of the tree he was hiding in and landed in an undignified heap on the ground. He didn't have a knife sticking in him anywhere and there was no blood so Hughes guessed he was able to spook the mutant into falling without actually hitting him. Unfortunately the fall didn't stun him because he was back on his feet and leapt towards Hughes, aiming a flying axe kick right at him. Luckily Toad's descents weren't as fast as his leaps so Hughes was able jump back out of the way in time. At first he intended to kick the mutant in the face once he landed but when his kick hit the ground it landed on not only shattered but also cratered slightly. Hughes' stunned reaction gave Toad enough time to place his hands on the ground, spin himself and land a kick to the right side of his chest.

"Guuhhhhhh!" Was the only sound Hughes could make as the breath was forced out of his lungs and he again was sent flying through the air. He didn't go that far this time as his back slammed into a fairly large tree. He could feel that several of his ribs were broken and the quick double blow between the kick and hitting the tree was enough to make him feel like he had just been run over by a car, twice. Despite that he knew he couldn't slump down and black out like he desperately wanted to. Now that he was hurt a harder follow up blow was bound to be coming. Raising his head he saw, sure enough, Toad running right at him. This time instead of a downward blow Toad leapt forward and went for a straight forward flying kick. Ignoring the pain in his chest Hughes ducked and dived out of the way, causing Toad to miss him and rip out a large chunk of the tree instead. Hughes turned and waited for Toad to attack him again but instead the mutant stood straight up and spun a kick into the other side of the tree. The force of the kick put enough force on the weakened section of trunk that it snapped like kindling and began to fall, right towards Hughes. The Lt. Colonel scrambled out of the way and managed to avoid the being hit as the tree shook the ground when it hit. Looking from the downed tree to the person who caused it Hughes saw Toad smiling proudly.

"Pretty neat huh?" He asked. "Not every day I get to do something like that." He bragged before spitting another glob of slime. Knowing that Toad was trying to distract him Hughes had slipped another knife into his hand and was ready for whatever came next, tongue or slime. His weapon intercepted the glob halfway, turning it solid and rendering it a slow moving and easy to avoid chunk. Not amused at Hughes' cleverness he shot his tongue at the Lt. Colonel to grab his throwing arm before he could get another knife out. Even though Hughes was still in the middle of drawing the weapon he wasn't going to be fall for the same thing twice and turned to the side, allowing the slimy appendage to pass him and smack into a tree that was right behind him. Hit with a sudden flash of inspiration Hughes didn't throw his now ready knife at Toad while he was open or run now that he had the chance. Instead he turned around again and stabbed the mutant's tongue with it, pinning it to the tree. "GGRRRRAAAAGGGGTTTTHHHHH!"

Hughes ignored Toad's garbled scream and watched as the mutant instinctually grabbed his tongue and tried to pull it back to him. It didn't work, Hughes had buried the knife to the hilt to make sure Toad wouldn't be able to pull the tongue back without ripping it in two. On the other hand there was nothing to stop Toad from just jumping over here, drive him off and pull the knife out himself. That lead to part two of his plan, one that he had just made up and was sure he would regret. Doing his best not to think about it Hughes grabbed the tongue with both hands, somehow managing to keep the contents of his stomach down in the process, and yanked on it as hard as he could. Between his small size and being caught off guard Toad was pulled off his feet and through the air towards Hughes. He let go of the tongue, set his feet, and close-lined the mutant in the face with his good arm when he got close enough. He knew there was a risk of breaking his arm but the way things were going he needed to put Toad down, _now_.Toad almost did a back flip when the blow landed, with his goggles flying off his head, and while Hughes had to admit the reaction was kind of funny the way the mutant bounced off the ground he was afraid he might have accidentally killed the other man. Even though his eyes were closed Toad was now making a dazed gurgling noise and when it persisted for several seconds Hughes was sure it wasn't some sort of weird death rattle and that gave him reason to head back to the main road. Even if Toad did wake up in the near future Hughes doubted he'd have enough cognitive skills to get his tongue free and come after him.

"Uggghh. I just had to think of that didn't I?" Hughes asked himself, looking down at his hands. That was bar none the most disgusting thing he had ever done and knew there was a whole lot of hand washing in his future. (Wash? After this I should probably boil them.) He thought to himself as he crouched down to wipe what was left of the slime onto the grass. That made him acutely aware of his more serious problem as the right side of him felt like it was on fire. He hissed in pain but made sure he got as much of the crud he could off his hands before he stood up and grabbed his right side. Now that he had time to think about how badly he was hurt he was surprised he had actually been able to finish that fight because the pain in general was getting worse and it started to hurt just to breath. Whether Toad had done that with his kick or he had made it worse himself Hughes didn't know but what he did know was that he had to get back and help Mustang and Armstrong any way he could, even if it was just as an extra set of eyes. As he made his way out of the woods towards the road the first thing he noticed was the smell. There was a lot more smoke in the air and it wasn't just metal and wood burning, there was an overwhelming scent of burnt flesh everywhere. He began to think he was too late but as he finally exited the woods he saw that he was wrong, kind of. It was too late for Jacobs and all the soldiers he brought with him, most were now blackened lumps lying on the ground. The Major and the Colonel, on the other hand, where alive and currently engaging Juggernaut and Pyro in single combat. Explosions and fire roared from where the Colonel was fighting Pyro while Armstrong dodged Juggernaut's punches and surprisingly responded with some of his own, which oddly enough exploded when the landed. Knowing that trying to help either of them would just make him a liability Hughes leaned against a tree and watched the fight unfold, unaware of the form that was stalking him through the rows of wrecked vehicles and dead men.

When Sabertooth had seen Colonel Mustang's buddy stumble out of the woods looking as trashed as he did it presented an opportunity too good to pass up. Sure he was under orders not to hurt _this_ particular bunch of military idiots that badly but no one could blame him if he went a little overboard when protecting the others in the Brotherhood. Really, when he had picked up that rifle and aimed it at Pyro what else could he have done? He couldn't just sit by when four-eyes seemed bound and determined to kill his teammate now could he? Of course, Hughes was just standing there watching the fun and not doing anything but with everyone occupied at the moment he was confident he could gut the bastard and plant a weapon on him before anyone was the wiser. No one would believe him but they wouldn't be able to prove a damn thing. It was a nice little challenge now that he thought about it, baring his teeth in excitement. That excitement died as the wind behind him picked up slightly and he got a whiff of something other then dead meat and burning metal. Taking a few deep sniffs told him what he needed, the Elric brat was behind him and closing fast. He growled at the fact the kid had just ruined such a nice set up but at least he'd get a little payback for what he did earlier. Deciding to throw tact to the wind he turned and charged Ed at full speed.

Ed didn't know if he'd be able to take Sabertooth completely by surprise, so he didn't bother trying to be quiet. In fact it was probably best if he was able to take the mutant's attention away from Lt. Col Hughes as quickly as possible. He almost yelled at Sabertooth but before the words could get out of his mouth the mutant turned around and started running towards him on all fours like the animal he was named after. That threw Ed off because of the speed he was coming towards him at but that just meant he had to react faster then originally planned. Clapping his hands he readied a transmutation and stood his ground, certain that Sabertooth would take one of two courses of action. Once Sabertooth got so close that any sort of arching leap would carry him over Ed's head or be easily avoided the young alchemist knew exactly what was coming. Sure enough when Sabertooth was no more then thirty feet away from him he leapt straight at Ed in an attempt to tackle him to the ground. Making sure he timed it just right Ed didn't move and waited until the very last moment before placing his hands on the ground, creating a brick wall right in Sabertooth's path. Ed fully expected to hear a crash and cursing from the impact that was sure to happen but the only thing he heard was a light tap on the wall and some scratching. That scratching was moving and Ed knew what was going on but had only a split second before Sabertooth threw himself over the wall and tried to come down right on his head. Ed jumped aside and Sabertooth landed on his feet, not even stopping to regain his balance before slashing at Ed with his claws. Ed ducked and moved to the side but Sabertooth just turned and slashed again, missing when Ed ducked and digging deep groves in the brick wall he had created. Taken full advantage of the opening Ed punched Sabertooth in the jaw, this time not only snapping the mutant's head to the side but actually made him stumble and almost fall.

"Fuuuttt ddee feeaallll?" Sabertooth tried to shout through a completely shattered jaw. Sensing an advantage Ed threw another punch with his metal fist but this time Sabertooth slapped the blow aside and threw a punch of his own that struck him in the chest. Rolling with the punch prevented anything from being broken but it still sent him end over end. Quickly recovering and getting up Ed set his feet in a fighting stance, ready for Sabertooth's next attack. To his surprise Sabertooth just stood there, forcefully pushing the pieces of his jaw back in place rather then wait for his healing factor to do it for him. Once he got it more or less back into one piece he looked at Ed and gave him a feral smile. "So, the runt finally decides to fight for real." He stated as he stretched his claws, making them pop. "Now we get to have some fun!" he shouted and ran at Ed.

"We'll just see how much fun you have!" Ed shouted back and broke into his own run. Sabertooth laughed and brought back one hand as they got closer and began to swing it when Ed stopped dead in his tracks and stood perfectly still with a knowing smile on his face. Suspecting a trap Sabertooth pulled up short and skidded to a halt.

"What? You decide to throw one grown up punch then you chicken out?" Sabertooth snarled. "So much for being the big bad State alchemist."

"I never chicken out." Ed said, that knowing smile still in place. "And I can be really bad when I put my mind to it." He added and clapped his hands. Sabertooth growled again and tensed up, watching and listening for where the transmutation would come from.

"Take you best shot runt." The mutant growled. "I ain't going to fall for the same trick twice."

"Yeah we kind of figured that." Ed admitted. "That's why we had to come up with some brand new ones." He finished quickly before slapping the ground. Sabertooth prepared to move the instant he saw the flash but the only warning he got was the sound of stone shifting before the wall behind him started firing bricks like a shotgun. The first one hit him between the shoulders, was a complete surprise and made Sabertooth stagger forward. The second one hit at the base of the spine, making him inadvertently stand straighter. That set him up for the third brick, an Ed Elric special that had an iron center covered by a thin layer of rock that _**looked**_ like brick and flew three times faster then the first two. That hit him dead center in the back of the skull. He staggered forward even faster, almost falling to the ground. Ed didn't know if it was going to be enough to knock Sabertooth unconscious but in a way he was kind of glad it didn't. The way he was hunched over and moving towards him meant he had the perfect opportunity to pivot and kick the dazed mutant in the face as hard as he could with his automail leg. Like before he held nothing back and this time the kick made Sabertooth stumble and stagger backwards, complete with teeth flying from his mouth along with the blood from both it and his nose. But in a show of the potency of his healing factor, or just how tough a bastard he actually was, Sabertooth remained standing turned his attention back to Ed.

"Gut ya…squash ya…" He growled. The words held a real threat but Ed could see the mutant's eyes were now cloudy. Those clouds would fade completely if he gave them a chance, then he'd be back at square one. Not willing to give Sabertooth a second wind Ed rushed forward and took the initiative. Putting all his muscle behind it he drove his automail elbow into the center of Sabertooth's chest, ignoring the embarrassment of having to jump to hit his target. He heard and felt bones shatter while Sabertooth's eyes widened in surprise as he coughed up more blood.

Normally Ed would have been concerned about the damage he was doing to his opponent, not this time. Between everything he had seen and been told about this guy two things were very clear. While he was faster and far stronger then any normal human being he was still made of the same materials. His flesh, blood and bones were no different then any other person's. Which meant they could be damaged in the exact same way as any other person he fought. Second, and more importantly, so long as Ed didn't cut the mutant's head off or completely destroy his brain whatever he was able to dish out, no matter how brutal or damaging, Sabertooth could _take_. If the fact that he had suffered two blows that were sure to have shattered his skull and caused massive (not to mention certainly fatal) brain damage within a matter of seconds of each other, not to mention having most of his face and ribs smashed to pieces along with the internal collateral damage, and only look slightly punch drunk afterwards didn't prove it nothing would. And he would need to fight like that if he wanted to actually wear Sabertooth down to the point he could recapture him. First thing though was that he needed to get the maniac away from him so he didn't get caught up in his own trap. To do that he decided to take a page out of Wolverine's book, even it meant recalling his first embarrassing encounter with him.

Grabbing what was left of Sabertooth's burned and shot up vest Ed began to fall backwards, tucking his legs to his chest. Usually trying to flip someone of Sabertooth's size and ferocity would only get you mauled but with the half second opening breaking the mutant's ribs had given him Ed was able to follow through with no problem. To put as much distance between him and the soon to be healed Sabertooth he kicked as hard as he could with both his flesh and automail legs, that latter of which he could feel doing even more internal damage, sending the mutant flying through the air and skidding along the ground. Knowing that he couldn't give Sabertooth any time to recover Ed didn't stand to perform his transmutation, he clapped his hands while rolling over, took a quick glance at where his opponent was, and slapped his hands to the ground once he was on his stomach. Unfortunately even with such a sliver of time to work with Sabertooth had recovered enough to look back at what Ed was doing. Once he saw Ed clap his hands he reacted instantly and leapt forward, the distance and speed hampered slightly by the damage had already done. Even then he was just fast enough to avoid the rounded walls of rock that grew from the ground and closed together, forming a dome of rock meant to be his prison. Even then his heel was clipped and he was flipped over onto the ground. He didn't stay there for long, getting to his feet and turning towards Ed.

"Too slow runt." He taunted.

"Damn it! Can't you just stand still for two seconds?" Ed growled as he got to his feet, ready for Sabertooth's next inevitable charge.

"Sorry shrimp but you want to win this you've got to make sure I don't see it coming." Sabertooth replied as he started circling Ed. Ed said nothing in response and clapped his hands again but didn't reach for anything. Curious to see what the runt had in mind Sabertooth decided to take the direct route and started running right at him. Ed put his hands to the ground in response and the area between him and Sabertooth lit up, then seemed to come alive. All manner of obstacles sprung from the ground, spikes, hands trying to grab him, fists trying to punch him, even more bricks launching themselves from hidden holes. Sabertooth ducked, dodged and leapt across the living minefield, watching the surface of the ground for any kind of movement, no matter how slight. With his superior eyesight, hearing and reflexes he was able to ID the type of threat as it emerged from the ground, no matter how fast, act appropriately, and ID the next one before he was finished dealing with the first. Ed watched as Sabertooth maneuvered his way through all the traps, determination and not worry visible on his face in contrast to the mutant's savagery.

When Sabertooth had got within pouncing distance he decided to forgo the song and dance routine he was in the middle of, as interesting a workout as it was, and go straight for the kill. He leapt into the air, keeping one eye on Ed, one on the ground in front of him in case there was one last surprise in store. Suspiciously Ed calmly stood up and watched Sabertooth as he headed for him with that same look of determination, not even trying to evade. Sabertooth didn't see him holding a weapon and when he was almost within arms reach he began to wonder if Ed had given up. The instant after he thought that Ed dove to the side and threw something brown at him, something that even he wouldn't be able to dodge, not at this range. He heard the sound of glass breaking and his world went dark as something covered his eyes, and didn't come off.

"Graaahhh!" He yelled as he landed face first on the ground with a loud thud, missing Ed completely. He got up snarling, trying to shake whatever was on his face off but it was stuck there.

"Guess that means you're not going to see anything coming now are you?" Ed shouted in triumph as Sabertooth struggled to get the glue bomb he made out his eyes. He knew that Sabertooth had gotten wise to his basic attacks using alchemy so when he had created that obstacle course he had also covertly formed a small glass ball containing the strongest glue he could formulate underneath one of his hands. All that he needed to do was palm the ball when he stood up and wait for Sabertooth to get close enough so he couldn't miss. Sabertooth had obliged and now the braggart had a face full of glue that left him blind and at a serious disadvantage. Unfortunately in his moment of ego Ed forgot about one thing while taunting him. Something only realized after Sabertooth had swung his arm around and backhanded Ed with his fist. Ed's world got fuzzy as he spun and fell to the ground but he was conscious and still had all his teeth, which was a plus. However…..

"No but my ears still work pretty good!" Sabertooth shouted as raised his boot to stomp on Ed. Rolling out of the way Ed stood up and ran several yards away from Sabertooth before turning around. He clapped and put his hands to the ground before the mutant could find him again. Sabertooth jumped at the sound of more earth shifting around him but whatever Ed had made they were out of arms reach of him and didn't appear to be moving. That didn't matter because the runt could just try that brick routine again so he remained on guard for anything that might come this way. What he didn't know thanks to being blinded was that Ed had created several large statues of himself, holding equally large megaphones, out of hollowed rock and what was coming he could not dodge.

"HOW ARE THEY WORKING NOW?" Ed shouted at the top of his lunges into the tube he had created to connect the four structures underground. His amplified voice blasting out of all four would have been near deafening for someone with regular hearing. For someone with heightened senses…

"YAAAHHHH! You half pint son of a bitch! I'll get you for this! Nobody does this to me and gets away with it!" Sabertooth yelled as he stumbled out of the megaphones blast area, clutching his ears and staggering like he had just been physically struck. At this point Ed could probably skip to the last part of his plan but he needed to make sure that Sabertooth would not be able to avoid it. For that he needed him immobilized.

"You need your eyes more then you think!" Ed shouted as he brought his hands together. "You need to see the blood, see the pain that you've caused and the terror you create! You have to see it to enjoy it, to revel in it!" He shouted as he put his hands to the ground hoping that being so loud and the ringing Sabertooth was bound to have in his ears would drown out what he was doing.

"So I like to have a good time, sue me!" Sabertooth responded, angry but still trying to get a fix on Ed. If the runt wanted to get self-righteous and give his position away after pissing him off even more that was fine with him. All he needed was one last check to make sure. "Maybe if you weren't such a weak little runt…"

"STOP CALLING ME RUNT!" Ed screamed as he cut him off. Bingo. Now he knew exactly where Ed was and sprinted in his direction. He didn't need his eyes to finish this fight. All he had to do was keep an ear out to make sure he didn't get clap happy and start sniffing the air to make sure there wasn't any extra piles of dirt, stone or metal that weren't there a second ago. He was thinking about thanking the runt for not moving when he suddenly ran headfirst into something that had no give to it whatsoever. With the speed he was going at the blow rattled his head and actually knocked him onto his back. "I hate it when people call me little." He heard Ed say calmly through the daze he had put himself in. Then he heard the clap.

"NOOO!" He shouted as he sat up, but it was already too late. He felt the ground underneath him change from rough soil to cold and smooth metal. He was trapped; the runt had actually managed to trick him into falling for it! Grabbing the upper portion of the glue stuck to he face he pulled as hard as he could, not caring that hair and skin was coming with it. It took a couple of seconds but he eventually got the lump of glue off his face and was able to take a good look around him. The floor around him was solid metal, but there were no walls around him. Wait…the air looked slightly distorted and he couldn't feel a breeze. He was surrounded by glass, even above his head! Turning towards where he had last heard Ed he saw the young alchemist looking at him, standing behind the glass wall with his hands clapped together.

"I figured you should see what happened." Ed told him with a new tone of superiority in his voice. He couldn't kill Sabertooth, no matter how desperately he wanted to, no matter how much he deserved it. He would have to settle for rubbing his nose in the fact he had just been beaten, been humiliated, not by someone stronger, more powerful or more vicious then him, but by someone who was smarter. "Dogs can't smell glass so I figured you wouldn't be able to either. Good thing I made it thick enough though." He said with a smile, glancing at a section of indented and spider webbed cracked glass.

"BASTARD!" Sabertooth howled as he rushed towards Ed, his shoulder down. Ed doubted that he would be able to break through glass as thick as this very quickly, but he couldn't take any changes either. Putting one hand on the wall in front of him Ed watched as the glass began to glow, obscuring his view of the charging Sabertooth. When the glow faded the glass that had comprised the walls and ceiling of Sabertooth's cell had been replaced with the same substance as the floor. High gauge steel, several feet thick, now surrounded the crazed mutant from all sides. He had placed a small window on each side with very thick bars to allow Sabertooth to breath, as well as a small hatch at the top so they would be able to drop food and water to him if they needed to. All the openings were barely big enough for Sabertooth to squeeze his hand out of, let alone the rest of him, in the unlikely event he could destroy the bars.

"This time you're not getting out." Ed promised, determined to make sure Magneto didn't even think about releasing him. Finally done Ed turned around and started walking towards Lt. Col. Hughes.

"YOU'D BETTER PRAY I DON'T GET OUT OF THIS WHILE YOU'RE STILL AROUND RUNT!" Sabertooth bellowed. "CAUSE IF I DO I'LL MAKE YOU WISH THAT I KILLED YOU RIGHT HERE AND NOW! I'M GONNA MAKE SURE YOU SEE ME USE YOUR SKIN AS WALLPAPER AND BONES AS TOOTHPICKS! I'LL MAKE YOU WATCH WHEN I YANK YOUR GUTS OUT THEN EAT THEM. I MIGHT EVEN FEED SOME OF THEM TO YOU! YOU'LL BE BEGGING ME TO LET YOU DIE WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU RUNT! YOU HEAR ME? YOU'LL BE BEGGING ME TO LET YOU DIE!" Ed didn't respond to the yelling, he had been threatened before and they were just threats so he wasn't about to let it get to him now. Then again he felt a shiver go up his spine as he realized that Sabertooth would have every intention of keeping those promises.

Hughes had been unaware of the fight between Ed and Sabertooth until he noticed the flash of Ed's first transmutation out of the corner of his eye. After calling himself an idiot for being so focused on Armstrong fighting Juggernaut and his own busted ribs he lost awareness of what was going on around him he focused on Ed facing off against that monster. It had been a brutal fight but Ed had managed to trick Sabertooth into almost knocking himself out and putting him in a cage that looked just as escape proof as Al's restraints.

"Well that's probably the worst of them down." Hughes remarked as Ed made his way over to him. "You doing ok?" He asked, taking note of Ed's swollen jaw.

"Yeah. He didn't manage to hit me that hard so I guess I got lucky." Ed answered, rubbing the injured area, and hissing when he felt some loose teeth. "What about you?" He asked to keep Hughes from saying anything else about him.

"I'll live." The Lt. Col answered. "Though I probably won't be doing any heavy running for a while." He amended and clutched his side again.

"Well at least you'll get some time off to be with Elicia." Ed told him, the only positive thing that could come out of being banged up like this. Hughes gave a half smile and short laugh at Ed's statement, both of them knowing that would be the outcome only if they survived all this. "So how are we doing?" He asked looking towards the other two fights. Hughes opened his mouth to answer when a loud explosion followed by gigantic fireball shot skyward from where Mustang and Pyro were. The two watched slightly dumbfounded as the fire began moving and twisting on its own. An instant later they heard Juggernaut shouting and turned to see the now helmetless mercenary lift Major Armstrong over his head by the neck and throw him to the ground, causing it to shake. Armstrong managed to slam one of his gauntlets down when he landed, and the ground underneath Juggernaut began to collapse, causing him to almost fall from being off balanced so quickly.

"Your guess is as good as mine." Hughes answered, not truly able to tell which way either fight was going.


	13. Final Skirmishes

Chapter 13: Final Skirmishes

The fight hadn't started the way Mustang would have preferred. Hell once Magneto had started talking to Jacobs _nothing_ had been going the way Mustang preferred. The Central troops had just been wiped out, the conditions of Hawkeye and Hughes were unknown, and now he and Major Armstrong were facing down the strongest of Magneto's forces. To top it all off that walking sewer Toad had…slimed…his hands, leaving him unable to use his alchemy with Pyro running loose. Even though he had complete confidence in the Major he didn't want to leave him to face Juggernaut by himself so he hadn't moved yet.

"You need'nt worry about me sir. I shall be all right." Armstrong replied, seemingly reading Mustangs thoughts as he tossed his jacket to the side. Mustang nodded and began to move away from the two of them.

"You're going to be a lot of things, but all right isn't one of them." Juggernaut promised, ignoring the Colonel. Mustang didn't look back as Juggernaut walked towards Armstrong, moving towards what was left of one of the tanks.

Finding an area that wasn't razor sharp or still burning Mustang swung one of his slime encased hands against the tank's armor. There was a dull thud when the two substances met but the slime didn't break. Undeterred Mustang swung again, harder this time. Again there was a dull thud but he saw a chip of it fall off. Encouraged he began beating the side of the tank with foul substance as hard as he dared. After several more hits there was a loud crack from the slime. Swinging one more time the slime finally shattered, freeing his hand. Chunks of the stuff were still stuck to his glove but he was now able to move his fingers. More importantly the array on his glove was undamaged and none of it was stuck to the flint in the fingertips. He held his other hand away from him turned his face away and snapped his fingers. He wasn't going to try to blow the slime off completely, that was just asking to take the hand with it. All he needed was enough force to weaken the slime, and the banging on the tank had shown him just how much the substance could take. There was a flash and a small bang but thankfully no shrapnel. Turning back Mustang saw a large crack running down the center of the chunk where he had set the explosion. Knowing that was all he needed Mustang swung the hand into the tank, shattering the slime and freeing his other hand.

"That's one problem taken care of." Mustang said to himself, wiping the residue off his gloves.

"And one bloody big one to go." An oddly accented voice stated from behind him. Battle instincts taking over Mustang threw himself to the ground just as a ball of fire raced over he head and slammed into the tank. He covered his head to keep any flames that made it down this far from setting his hair on fire but to his surprise he didn't feel anything. Chancing a look up that the fireball seemed to be stuck to the side of the tank. Stranger still was that it was attached to a chain, also made completely out of fire.

(Okay maybe not so strange.) Mustang thought as he remembered just who he was dealing with.

"Had to let you get your fancy gloves back into play." Pyro stated as he drew the fireball and chain back to him. Looking at his opponent Mustang saw that in addition to the giant medieval style flail he had created with his right flamethrower Pyro also 'held' a fire scythe with the left. "Wouldn't have been able to show who's the best when it comes to fire if both of your hands tied behind your back now would I? Figured you deserved a chance to loose with some dignity." Mustang's eye twitched but other then that his face remained impassive.

"How very noble of you." He said sarcastically and brought his fingers together. Pyro saw his hand start to move and rather then wait and see what happened he swung his fire flail in an arc that would make it land right on top of Mustang. Knowing he needed to move now the Colonel pushed himself to his feet, dove and rolled forward, making the fireball miss him by inches. Ignoring the intense heat he could feel behind him Mustang stood, brought up his hands and snapped his fingers. The ball part of the flail and half of the chain disappeared in a blinding flash and when it cleared the fire chain was lying on the ground like a regular chain that had been cut in two. He couldn't focus on how odd that was, he had other problems at the moment. Like one certain fire crazed mutant.

"Don't mention it mate." Pyro stated and swung the scythe he had created. The blow was telegraphed and Mustang was easily able to duck under it. He watched as Pyro followed through with the weapon, hitting the tank he had used to get rid of the slime constricting his hands. The fire blade continued to move in its swung arc, not pausing as moved along the length of the vehicle. Mustang saw the tip of the weapon coming out the other side but thought Pyro was just trying to intimidate him by making his powers seem stronger then they actually were. That thought began to change when he saw a bright red line along the path the scythe had taken. Then it disappeared completely when the portion of the tank shifted slightly, and slid off completely, almost hitting Mustang. The Colonel jumped out of the way to make sure he wasn't squashed, then looked over at Pyro.

(All right. I'll admit it. I did not see _that_ one coming.) Mustang thought to himself as he glared at Pyro. He had expected the fire-wielding mutant to be able to do quite a bit with the flames he controlled, but upping their temperature to that kind of heat wasn't one of them. Oh well, it was just another problem he had to take into consideration, nothing more.

"Can't do that now can ya?" Pyro said smugly as he swung the scythe again. This time Mustang didn't flinch and snapped his fingers, causing the entire length of the fire weapon to be engulfed in the explosion. The blast wave snuffed out the fire but that didn't hinder Pyro, who created a spear to replace it. "You don't have that kind of precision, that type of control." He mocked as he threw the spear forward. Mustang created another blast in front of the spear's flight path, obliterating it. "You can only make flames pop up where you want them, after that you've got nothing. Me on the other hand…" Activating his both his flamethrowers he molded the fire into the shape of a gigantic snake, one that had equally gigantic fangs. "I can do anything I damn well please with it."

He gestured his hand forward and the fire snake responded, lunging at Mustang with its mouth wide open. Still not about to be scared into moving the Colonel casually snapped his fingers and blew the head of the snake clean off, along with half its body. Unfortunately unlike with the weapons beforehand the snake simply grew a new head and continued its lunge at Mustang through the clearing smoke, faster then before. Now needing to move unless he wanted to be burnt to a crisp Mustang quickly ran to the side, making the flame creation take a 'bite' out of the ground instead of him. It quickly brought its head back up and turned towards Mustang, coiling for another lunge. The Colonel wasn't about to give it the chance. Noticing Pyro's change of tactics Mustang knew he would have to extinguish every part of the snake to keep it from attacking again. Creating a shockwave powerful enough to do that would injure him as well so he would have to adjust his tactics accordingly. After calculating what length of the snake would have to be extinguished to stay out of Pyro's range Mustang created a very precise line of instability along the ground. When he snapped his fingers this time the sudden change in air pressure combined with a wave of dirt and dust that managed to smother almost the entire length of the snake almost all the way back to its creator.

"Not bad my boy, not bad." Pyro said, taking the snake's destruction in stride. "Thing is though…" With a foowwshh he activated his flamethrowers, this time the streams of flame lying on the ground like pieces of rope. "I can do this all day." He finished and swung the streams of fire forward like whips. The first one came down from above like the flail had, giving Mustang barely enough time to get out of the way and cut the whip in half with another explosion. That gave him just enough time to duck under the second fire whip as it was about to take his head off like a sword. A second explosion extinguished it but it just regrew to its former length like the first one had. "And you know what the best part is?" He asked as he drew the whips back to swing again. "Unlike you I'm not limited to what I can make." He finished arrogantly. Mustang heard the fire on the tank behind him pick up in intensity and turned just in time to see flames jumping off the vehicle and at him.

"Shit!" He cursed as he tried to jump out of the way. He mostly succeeded and the flames only brushed the arm of his uniform jacket. He clamped down on part of the sleeve that was burning with one hand to put the flames out and used his other hand to make an explosion that blew out the flames covering the tank. Of course he knew that was only half of his problem, turning around quickly and snapping his fingers almost blindly. He was correct that Pyro was trying to hit him in the back, those whips now coming at him like spears. The resulting explosion was bigger then he had wanted and actually needed to flinch away and cover his eyes from it since he was so close. The fire whips were extinguished but he still had the same problem as before. Glancing through the clearing haze he saw that Pyro was now laughing and molding his fire into a gigantic axe.

"Almost made you blow yourself to bits! Even you got to admit it, that was a clever one!" Pyro exclaimed, still laughing. Mustang glared at the mutant angrily. "What you think you can do better? I'd like you see you try!"

"You got it." Mustang answered calmly and snapped his fingers. All during the fight he hadn't been able to concentrate shifting the air composition where it would do the most good. With Pyro's pause to mock him Mustang managed to prepare his target. When Pyro challenged him to do better Mustang saw the opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. He'd be able to win this fight and in the process wipe that arrogant look off the mutant's face. All thanks to one small but powerful explosion, right next to the fuel tank on Pyro's back.

Mustang had fully expected the chain reaction to be fast and violent, with the fuel exploding all over Pyro and setting the mutant ablaze. With his concentration broken the command he held over the fires would end and Mustang would be able to trigger a second explosion, one that would blow out the fire before Pyro was too badly injured and knocking him unconscious in the process. What he honestly did not expect was for the explosion he had used to cause a much bigger one and create a twenty-foot tall fireball that completely consumed Pyro and a good portion of the area around him. Whatever had been in that pack was more volatile then he thought it would be and it blocked his view of Pyro so he wouldn't be able to help him. It was either let him burn to death or create an explosion so large it would disintegrate the mutant. As he stood there trying to figure out the best course of action he saw the problem solve itself for him as the fire began to shift and move in unnatural ways. On the ground the fire separated like a stage curtain being pulled aside and standing there in the middle of the inferno was an unharmed Pyro. Well not quite unharmed. His hair had been completely burned off but from what Mustang could see of his face it was untouched and his posture didn't seem like someone who had just been seriously burned.

"Oh come on now Colonel, give me a little bit of credit!" Pyro said, noticing Mustang's look of surprise. "Did you really think someone with powers like mine _**wouldn't**_ have a suit that was fireproof? I may not be a bleeding rocket scientist but I'm not _**stupid**_!"

Well that explained that much. Of course there were fabrics that were fire-_resistant_ but to Mustang's knowledge no one had ever come up with something that was truly fire_proof_. That threw his first plan completely out the window. Pyro's suit rendered him immune to fire damage and with the flames constant shifting around in random movements the composition of the air around him was constantly in flux. That meant building up enough oxygen for a useful explosion would be almost impossible. And that was if his target just stood there and did nothing to stop him. Of course that happening were exactly zero.

"But if you want ta take off the kiddy gloves." Pyro stated as he raised his arms, proving Mustang right. Several chunks of flame separated themselves from the main fire, becoming flattened out and jagged. "That's fine by me." The separated flames began to spin. Slowly at first but picking up speed until the blades were no longer visible, just like the saws they were imitating.

(Looks like it's down to plan B.) Mustang told himself. He'd been formulating this plan since he had met the fire-wielding mutant in the castle's library, certain they would be on opposite sides of a battle. He had never tried something like this before but he was certain it would work, he just hoped Pyro wouldn't catch on until it was too late. Not moving from the spot and taking a deep breath the Colonel glared at Pyro, daring him to try something. He took the bait and threw his hands forward, concentrating on the arrogant looks on Mustang's face, not the glowing arrays on his gloves. The fire saw blades obeyed the mental command of their master, launching themselves at Mustang not in a straight line but with random curves and height changes. He could see what Pyro was attempting and under normal circumstances it would have been a problem to intercept so many fast moving and unpredictable targets. Today though, he didn't even move his arms to let him snap his fingers. Pyro was debating whether the Colonel had thrown in the towel or just gone mad when the blades got within ten feet of him, and promptly vanished like blown out candles. Mustang stood there smirking as Pyro's jaw dropped and he just stood there uncomprehending.

"How in the bloody….?' Pyro started, unable to understand it. Mustang hadn't even snapped his fingers, he hadn't even _moved his hands_. So how did he managed to stop all of them at once, just by looking at them? Thinking it was a fluke Pyro tried again, this time recreating the axe he had before Mustang had blown up his fuel tank and swinging it at the motionless Colonel. Again when the fire got close to Mustang it fizzled out, neatly cleaving half of the blade off. With the smirk never leaving his face Mustang began to slowly walk towards Pyro. "Don't come any closer!" He shouted and sent a large stream of fire at Mustang head on. When it got close to the Colonel it acted just like a stream of water would when it came to an obstacle it couldn't knock over, breaking in two and flowing around its target leaving the man unharmed. "Stay back!" He shouted as he was becoming more confused, and angrier, the closer Mustang got. Deciding that defense would be a better option he set up a wall of flames in Mustang's path, figuring he would have to switch to the offense to get through and leave himself open. Mustang didn't even change the pace of his walk as a hole opened up in the wall and allowed him to step through just as if Pyro had done it himself. Now starting to feel desperate Pryo raised his hands over his head and every bit of fire around them rose up and concentrated itself into on gigantic fireball right over the Colonel. Other then glancing up at the giant floating inferno he paid it no mind and continued walking. "BURN DAMN YOU!" He screamed, bringing the entire thing down on Mustang's head.

It was certainly one of the most unique sights Mustang had ever seen. Being in the heart of a roaring inferno, surrounded by flames but untouched allowed him to watch the fire twist and swirl around him was not something he thought he would ever be able to see. But while his new trick kept the flames themselves away from him and allowed him to see this impressive sight it did nothing with the heat, he felt like a roasting chicken inside here. Of course that in itself was a good thing since he only _felt_ like he was roasting, not actually bursting into flames and being cooked alive. As interesting as the view was in here Mustang didn't stick around to admire it, continuing his slow walk until he had finally exited the sphere of fire. As luck would have it he came out not twenty feet from a bewildered looking Pyro. That bewilderment was quickly mixed in with outright panic as he saw that except for sweating slightly from he heat Mustang had come out of that mass of solid fire completely unscathed.

"That's not possible!" Pryo screamed as Mustang kept walking towards him, ignoring his ranting. "There's now way you could have….HUFF HUUFF ACCCKK!" He stopped mid-sentence and grabbed his throat as he found himself suddenly unable to breath when Mustang got within ten feet of him. The Colonel didn't seem to have any concern about Pyro's well-being, as a matter of fact he stopped and looked behind him. As he suspected with the mutant's concentration broken the fireball collapsed and mostly burned itself out, leaving a patch of ground on fire but no flames anywhere else. Satisfied that things were going well enough Mustang dropped half of the air bubble around him that was devoid of oxygen so he and Pyro could breath, but leave his back covered in case he was attacked from behind. After letting Pyro take a couple of deep breaths Mustang grabbed the collar of his costume, almost choking him a second time, and drew back his fist.

"So, shall we start discussing that title now?" Mustang asked, the smile on his face turning almost evil.

"Oh bugger." Pyro managed to groan before Mustang's fist hit him. The Colonel tried to not enjoy it _too_ much as he punched the mutant as hard as he could. He let go when the punch landed and Pyro fell flat on his back, unmoving. Positive the mutant was truly unconscious Mustang looked back towards the only source of noise left in the area. Armstrong was still on his feet and it looked like he had somehow knocked Juggernaut's helmet off but that seemed to be the only thing that the Major had going for him. He was covered in bruises, bleeding from multiple cuts and his face looked like it had been on the receiving end of some devastating punches while the worst his opponent had suffered seemed to be just getting his armor dirty. That didn't deter Armstrong as he lowered his shoulder and charged forward.

Charging straight at an enemy that had so far had been unaffected by everything that had been thrown at him would normally been considered foolish, to say the least. Armstrong was well aware of these facts, but also knew that conventional thinking had to be completely discarded when facing an opponent like this. He had learned that the hard way in Reesembol and he wasn't going to make the same mistake twice. He stood and waited as Juggernaut approached, knowing he would have to let the mercenary make the first move so he could counter it by surprise. Juggernaut did not speed up and did not make any move to throw a punch, merely stopping when he was toe to toe with the Major. Again it was an odd feeling to have someone actually glaring _**down**_ at him but he wasn't about to be intimidated and glared right back. For several long tense seconds the stare down went on in silence, neither moving, waiting for the other to lose their nerve and back away. When it became obvious that it wouldn't end like that Juggernaut broke the silence.

"So you going to do the smart thing and call it a day?" He asked, not breaking his glare.

"Not just yet. You're still standing." Armstrong replied evenly. Juggernaut responded by laughing.

"I've gone toe to toe with the Hulk, and won." He boasted. "You really think I'm going to be afraid of some wimp with a couple of cheap tricks?" He asked mockingly. Even though he didn't know just what that boast meant this was the chance Armstrong needed.

"You certainly hide your fear very well." The Major responded. Juggernaut stopped smiling and snarled. Watching the shoulders Armstrong knew where the first punch was coming from and as soon as Juggernaut threw the uppercut he was able to twist to the side to avoid it. Not deterred by the miss Juggernaut swung his arm, trying to backhand the Major. Again Armstrong was able to avoid it by dropping into a crouch, punching the ground with both fists as he did. The soil underneath Juggernaut's rippled and from it a giant stone hand rose up lifted him off the ground. Knowing he could shatter the rock easily Armstrong had the hand physically throw Juggernaut to buy him time. The landing caused a minor ground tremor and formed a small crater but Juggernaut was already getting up. That was fine with Armstrong, who punched the ground with both hands again, stood up, and ran right for Juggernaut.

"That's not gonna work." Juggernaut growled when he saw what Armstrong had done with that second punch. The Major's arms were sheathed in metal armor up to his shoulders not all that dissimilar from what Al's arms looked like. As he got closer he drew back one arm and threw a punch at Juggernaut's midsection. The armor covering the arm crumpled and shattered but Armstrong had controlled the punch in such a way that aside from a slight jolting of his arm he was not injured. "Didn't even feel that." Juggernaut gloated, expecting Armstrong to be angry that he wasn't doubled over 'as planned'.

"Then I suppose you won't mind if I try it again." Armstrong quickly stated as he threw a punch with his other arm, aimed at Juggernaut's face. Even if he hadn't been caught off guard with that comment Juggernaut would have let him do it anyway, just to see the idiot break his hand. What actually happened was a surprise even for him as the metal around Armstrong's hand not only broke but seemed to disintegrate when the blow landed. From the gauntlet up to the forearm the armor seemed to explode into small flake like shards that continued to fly forward due to momentum. When Armstrong pulled his arm back the front of Juggernaut's helmet and chest armor was covered in metal shards and if he had succeeded….

"Bleech! Phaaa! Pffffffttt!" Sure enough a good deal of them had made it inside Juggernaut's helmet. "Great choice of armor dumbass!" He shouted as he kept on spitting out metal shards he had almost swallowed. "Maybe you should try paper next time!"

"Actually it did precisely what I wanted it to." Armstrong said as he backed up and removed a piece of the armor up near his shoulder.

"What the hell kind of armor do you _**want**_ to break that easily?" Juggernaut asked incredulously.

"The kind that's made out of magnesium." Armstrong answered simply and threw the piece he had removed, the one that was made out of flint. Even if Juggernaut had known that he still wouldn't have been able to react in time to stop it or get out of the way. Armstrong didn't know just what Juggernaut's armor was made of but he knew it was more then hard enough to make the flint spark when it struck. He was correct in his assumption and when the flint struck the metal near the eyehole of the helmet sparks flew and the effects were near instantaneous. The magnesium shards touched by the sparks ignited, with their heat igniting the shards around them, which in turn ignited more. In the blink of an eye Juggernaut was giving off so much light Armstrong had to use his hand to block the worst of it. And that was just on the outside. On the inside….

"AHHHHHHH!" Juggernaut bellowed as he instinctively started clawing at his helmet and chest. He knocked away enough of the burning metal so Armstrong could lower his hand but there was still the surreal sight of light pouring out of the helmet's eye and mouth holes. "You stupid asshole this is not funny! NOT FUNNY!" He screamed as he began staggering around, trying to get away from the light. He sounded more annoyed then in pain but Armstrong had expected that. He might be immune to physical damage but his senses were not. Unfortunately it also made him unpredictable as he started wildly swinging at where he had last seen Armstrong. He had to move to get out of the other man's much longer reach but when he stepped aside Juggernaut turned to match him. He might be blind but he could obviously still hear footsteps.

"I suggest that you surrender now." Armstrong stated as dodged the wildly thrown punches. "The longer you waste time the more serious the damage to your eyes. If you stop we can have Winry treat you and…"

"The hell with that!" Juggernaut yelled as he stopped in his tracks and grabbed his helmet. With one swift motion he yanked the dome off his head and started grabbing furiously at the still burning metal on his face and neck. After getting rid of enough to make the light less then blinding he turned to glare at Armstrong. As the Major had expected none of his skin or even his hair showed any sign of burning, not even a singe. What he had _not_ excepted were the eyes. They were completely clear and focused, and they left no doubt that Juggernaut was now very angry. Armstrong had been wrong, the mercenary's senses were just as invulnerable as his skin. "My turn." The giant growled before swinging his helmet like a club. Armstrong put his arms up to block but the helmet connected, shattered the rest of his improvised armor, knocked him off his feet and sent him flying through the air. He landed on his back and could feel himself skidding along and digging up the ground as he did but he didn't focus on the pain.

(Don't stay down, not for a moment.) He told himself as he skidded to a stop. He couldn't give Juggernaut any additional advantages. Getting to one knee he took a quick look where Juggernaut was and saw that he had tossed his helmet away and while he wasn't running he was stomping his way towards him at a fast clip. Hoping to knock the giant off balance Armstrong punched the ground once. There was a flash and a cube of rock jumped from the ground as if it had been loaded on a spring. Standing quickly Armstrong waited until it reached the peak of its jump before punching it as well. There was a second flash and a super sized version of his stone spear headed straight towards Juggernaut, who made no attempt to get out of the way. The spear hit him in the face but he didn't flinch, even when it exploded not into shards of rock but a giant cloud of dust so thick he couldn't see out of it.

"Way to go pal, you just bought yourself two whole seconds." Juggernaut's sarcastic voice stated from within the dust cloud, the loud rumble of his footsteps never slowing.

"And that is all that I need." Armstrong replied, punching the ground a third time. Using Juggernauts voice and footfalls to judge the distance the Major opened up a thirty-foot pit under his opponent's feet. He heard Juggernaut's surprised shout, echoing slightly as he fell, and once the ground shuddered from his landing Armstrong twisted his fist, sealing the hole and creating a span of solid granite that surrounded Juggernaut for thirty feet in every direction. Knowing that he didn't need air Armstrong wasn't worried about him suffocating and he was sure it would take even Juggernaut some time to dig his way out. By then things would have calmed down and Magneto would be able to bring him under control. Armstrong quickly learned never to tempt fate as he felt the ground beneath his feet rumble slightly. It was followed by a second, stronger tremor. Then there was a third, and a fourth. Soon the ground was shaking so much Armstrong was having trouble keeping his balance. Finally with one last heaving tremor the ground over Juggernaut's prison exploded outward as the giant's hand burst from underneath. Taking a hold on the surface Juggernaut slowly pulled himself back above ground. Once he got his second arm free he climbed out of the hole completely he faced the stunned Armstrong.

"Yeah like _that's_ never been tried before. Why don't you just give up?" Juggernaut taunted and he sprinted towards Armstrong, fist raised. Determined to hold his ground Armstrong set his feet, punched his gauntlets together, and gestured for Juggernaut to attack him. The first punch was heavily telegraphed and Armstrong was able to dodge it easily. The ones that followed were another matter. Despite his immense size Juggernaut moved with the speed and reaction time of a normal sized person who was in good fighting shape, which meant he was moving far faster then he had any _**right**_ to. Despite that Armstrong was able to duck and weave through his punches like a boxer waiting for just the right moment. When he ducked under one hook he saw it and swung with a right cross of his own. The punch connected with Juggernaut's jaw and like before the impact was not what the larger man expected. Instead of the gauntlet flying apart and Armstrong's hand breaking there was small explosion that made Juggernaut flinch. It was only in surprise but it was enough to allow Armstrong to swing with his left, which created an even bigger explosion then before. This time ready Juggernaut didn't flinch but the flash was enough to disorient him long enough for Armstrong to backpedal slightly. Creating nitroglycerine inside the spikes on his right gauntlet with had been dangerous, creating even more inside the ones on his left was bordering on insanity. But it created the distraction Armstrong needed to try his last idea.

He had come into this fight with three ideas on how to immobilize his super powered opponent. The first two had been unsuccessful and he now had to resort to using pure brute strength. Against someone like Juggernaut that would normally be futile but he had shown he could be taken by surprise and that did make him vulnerable, however slight. After checking to make sure the arrays on his gauntlets were in one piece he went into action.

"Members of the Armstrong family are taught to never give up!" He bellowed back at the challenge as he crouched down and punched the ground with both hands. Between the two of them something shot upwards at almost blinding speed and when Juggernaut got a good look he found himself staring at the upper half of a giant statue that bared a perfect resemblance to Major Armstrong, one with his right fist drawn back and aimed right at him. The statue held the pose for a second before that fist came flying down at him. In response Juggernaut smirked and drew his own right fist back. This is what Armstrong had been hoping for. Juggernaut would treat this attack as a joke and not throw his punch at full force. On the other hand he not only had the statue throw its punch with all its might but he decided to employ a tactic Ed had used beforehand. The entire right arm of the statue was made of diamond, covered with a thin layer of stone. It might not be able to harm Juggernaut but Armstrong was betting that between the force behind the statute's punch, the unforgiving material the arm was made out of, and Juggernaut's half hearted counterattack he would at least be able to knock the mercenary off balance. Once off balance a follow up blow would hopefully end this fight.

"Well then I guess it's time you learned some new lessons." Juggernaut said and threw his punch. Juggernaut's fist collided head on with the much larger fist of the statue, and shattered it like it was made of glass. Not content with just winning the test of strength Juggernaut kept the blow moving forward, shattering more and more of the arm and he followed through with the punch. When he finally brought his fist down the statue was now missing most of its arm, and almost seemed to be reeling away from Juggernaut in pain. Of course he couldn't let the fun stop there so he drew back his left fist and threw a punch at the statue's stomach. The blow didn't break the stone it was made of so much as make it explode, forcing Armstrong to hold up his hands to protect himself from all the flying debris. Even so he could still feel himself being pelted and cut from the storm of rock. In a way it was a good thing that he was covering his face because he never got to see the final blow Juggernaut inflicted on the statue. With the lower torso gone the rest of the monument began to fall forward and rather then get out of the way Juggernaut stood perfectly still. When the head of the statue was about to hit him he threw an uppercut that caught the stone Armstrong on the chin, and shattered the head into a million pieces.

Armstrong was now truly at a loss. Every plan he had tried had failed and the only thing left standing between himself and Juggernaut was the last intact portion of the statue he had created, the shoulders and part of the upper torso. That proved to be of no consequence either as Juggernaut merely grabbed it with one hand and flipped it aside like a piece of wood, despite the fact it weighed close to a dozen tons. Once that was out of the way he started running at Armstrong again. There was no time to use his alchemy, and almost as little time to formulate a plan at all. From here on out he would have to play it by ear so he raised his fists and waited.

He let Juggernaut make the opening move again, a punch thrown at his head. He was able to dodge it easily as before and grabbed the other man's wrist with both hands. He twisted as hard as he could, trying to dislocate the joint but it refused to yield. He again had failed to injure the man, but in that same thought Armstrong realized he had left himself horribly wide open. He barely had time to process that when he felt something slam into his stomach hard enough to make him double over. As he tried to force air back into his lungs he saw Juggernaut's fist pull back from his stomach and fly forward, too fast for him to avoid it. Taking the uppercut to the face Armstrong saw stars but it also made him stand back up. He shook his head to clear his vision and got it back just in time to see Juggernaut's other fist coming right at him. The blow rang his head and made his world tilt but as he staggered back but Armstrong remained on his feet. Juggernaut quickly followed up with another punch that Armstrong swore came close to taking his head clean off.

"Looks like family advice ain't what it used to be." Juggernaut said as he punched Armstrong again. The blow staggered the State alchemist but he remained on his feet and had enough of his wits to glare back at Juggernaut. "Not so funny when you're on the receiving end of a sucker punch now is it?" He shouted. Armstrong tried to throw a punch of his own but Juggernaut easily caught it with one hand and squeezed, twisted, then let go in one motion, crushing the gauntlet, and dislocating the wrist in the process. Armstrong didn't even have to gasp in pain as Juggernaut grabbed him by the neck with the other hand. Even knowing it would do no good Armstrong instinctively grabbed onto the fingers around his throat and tried to pry them loose. It made no difference as Juggernaut lifted Armstrong over his head, held him there for a second so he could realize exactly what was coming, and threw him to the ground. The ground shook from the impact but Armstrong remained conscious and slammed one his remaining gauntlet into the ground when he hit. Sections of the ground underneath and behind Juggernaut began to collapse, forcing him to take several large stumbling backwards unless he wanted to fall over. Using the distraction Armstrong forced himself to get to his feet, it was slow but he eventually stood up. Juggernaut made his way back to solid ground and just stared at the Major. "You should have stayed down." He sneered in warning.

"Not as long as I can still stand." Armstrong answered back, popping his wrist back into place.

"Well I can take care of that real easy." Juggernaut said, balling his hand back into fists. Before he could do anything Armstrong took the initiative, rushing towards him with his shoulder lowered. That idiot really thought he was going to knock him down with a football tackle? It was so ridiculous that he was tempted to stand there and let him break his neck but after what had happened the last couple of times he gave out free hits he decided it would just be easier to knock the guy out when he got within range. When Armstrong got to within arms length Juggernaut threw his punch but the Major deftly avoided it. He tried to grab with his other hand but Armstrong dodged that to. Before Juggernaut could swing again Armstrong surprised him by not trying to hit but instead grabbing his belt with one hand and the top of his chest armor with the other. Armstrong steeled himself, knowing that if nothing was as it seemed with Juggernaut this was going to take all his strength. Sure enough when he started to lift he found that his opponent was much heavier then he looked, what had to be 800 pounds at the least. It felt like he was close to tearing every muscle in his arms and back but Armstrong managed to lift Juggernaut off the ground and over his head. He was half tempted to hold that pose in triumph for a moment but instead followed through with the bodyslam, throwing Juggernaut to the ground. The tremor it caused felt like a minor earthquake and the area immediately around him cratered under the impact as glass like cracks and fissures started to spread from in every direction. Any sense of accomplishment Armstrong may have felt with his success evaporated as Juggernaut nonchalantly sat up and got to his feet, dusting himself off.

"So you got anything else you wanna try?" Juggernaut asked, not moving even though he was less then five feet away the Major. Armstrong remained silent but put his fists back up, staring down the giant once again. "No? Guess I can stop humoring you then." Armstrong didn't like the sound of that and his wariness proved to be justified as Juggernaut lashed out with a punch faster then any of the others he had thrown. He was barely able to catch any movement at all before everything went black, not even feeling the hit land.

The three that were watching saw the punch land, and the way Armstrong's head twisted when it did all of them had the simultaneous, horrifying thought that Juggernaut had just broken the Major's neck. The only thing that told them that wasn't the case was that Armstrong's body twisted to follow his head's movement instead of just going limp and crumpling to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut. Spinning around and falling flat on your face like a fallen tree wasn't very dignified but it was a lot better then being dead. Watching the fallen Major for a few seconds to make sure he wasn't playing possum Juggernaut looked around to see who else was left. Ed and Hughes were standing near the woods, neither of them looking like they were in the best of shape. Colonel Mustang was near a wrecked tank, not too far from an unconscious Pyro, and looked to be untouched. All of them were giving him looks that said they wanted to rush in and finish the fight Armstrong had started.

"Anyone else feeling lucky?" Juggernaut taunted, spreading his arms in a 'come on' gesture. Mustang's eyes narrowed and Ed began to bring his hands together.

"I believe that will be quite enough." A voice above them stated. Looking up all of them saw Magneto hovering over their heads, without the aid of his shield. Now that he had their attention and any further violence had been averted he lowered himself to the ground. Juggernaut remained silent and stayed where he was but Mustang, Hughes and Ed walked towards him. All three looked at him with angry expressions but Ed looked absolutely livid.

"NOW it's enough?" Ed shouted before either of his superiors could say anything. "It wasn't enough when you killed all these men without hesitating? When you were having fun doing it?" He shouted, gesturing at what was left of the troops from Central. Hughes glanced up at Mustang but the Colonel shook his head. Trying to stop Ed would only aggravate him further and they'd probably have to knock him out to make him stop. Best just to let him rant and hope he didn't overstep his bounds, especially with that last accusation.

"Mr. Elric I take no joy in killing." Magneto replied calmly. "While some I command do I only take such actions because they are necessary."

"THEY WEREN'T NECESSARY!" Ed screamed. "I don't care what you say, there's always an alternative!"

"Yes there is." Magneto agreed, surprising Ed so much he forgot what he was going to say next. "The alternative would have been to let them live and try to kill all of us again at a later time." Ed opened his mouth to argue but Magneto cut him off. "You're only trying to fool yourself if you think otherwise. You know as well as I they would have killed everyone to make sure they completed their objective. They would have killed my mutant brethren and myself as well so long as they would be able to weaponize our abilities. Every dead body here…" He now gestured to the same bodies Ed had. "…as regrettable as any loss of life might be, means one less chance for them to come after us in the future."

"But they didn't know!" Ed yelled, refusing to believe a mass killing like this could be justified. "Jacobs and some of his officers maybe but the soldiers thought that you were enemies of the State, that _you_ were the ones that were going to hurt innocent civilians. They weren't evil people!"

"No, just people who would have done what they were told without question, no matter how grievous or immoral that order may have been." Magneto countered in a tone so icy Ed felt a chill go up his back. "The excuse that they were 'just following orders' hardly justifies such actions. Wouldn't you agree Colonel?" He asked Mustang.

"It never does." Mustang agreed. Ed looked at his CO in shock. He was actually _agreeing_ with what had happened? "But whole scale slaughter in the name of self defense isn't the answer either." He added. Well Ed found that to be a bit of a relief.

"Do you believe there was an alternative way to handle this?" Magneto asked.

"Technically the best outcome we could have hoped for would have been to detain Jacobs and his officers and scare the rest of them back to their train and off to Central." Mustang replied.

"Wait a second." Ed stated. While he was glad Mustang had a plan that didn't involve bloodshed something about the way he described it sounded weird. "What do you mean 'technically' it would have been the best outcome?"

"It would have been the best outcome for us." Hughes clarified. "But once they got back to Central odds are all of them would have been shot as traitors." Ed's eyes widened at the statement. "Sometimes there just is no 'good' alternative to something, no matter how hard you look." Ed scowled and turned towards Magneto.

"That still doesn't make it right." He almost growled. "Or sicing your thugs on us either." He added, glaring at the steel box that held Sabertooth.

"Again a regrettable but necessary action." Magneto stated. "I had no intention of putting Sabertooth against any of you, only Jacobs' men. His…zealous way of dealing with simple problems can be an issue, which is why I assigned Juggernaut to keep him under control. Though I see it was not necessary." Pausing for a moment he turned back towards Mustang. "You should not be worried about the Lieutenant, Mystique follows orders a bit more strictly then others." He said, glancing at Sabertooth's prison.

"I'm not worried about Lieutenant Hawkeye." Mustang responded. Magneto turned back and even though his face was covered Mustang could tell it was in surprise. "What should be worrying is what _she_ did to Mystique, despite the 'restraint' she showed." Unlike Magneto he had full confidence that Hawkeye would have been able to handle Mystique, powers or not.

"In light of what I can see I suppose it should not come as a surprise." Magneto admitted, looking around at the battlefield. Pyro was down and Toad was nowhere to be seen but it stood to reason that he was somewhere else and unconscious as well. Sabertooth was fully incapacitated and when he opened the radio link in his helmet the lack of a response from Mystique told him things had not gone as well as she had hoped. Out of the six members of the Brotherhood only himself and Juggernaut remained standing, technically speaking. Pyro and Sabertooth had been defeated by what amounted to other mutants but Mystique and apparently Toad had been bested by ordinary humans. "A very impressive showing Colonel, you should be proud."

"I am, but that isn't the point." Mustang said as Magneto turned back to face him. "I wish I could say this could have been avoided if you didn't goad Jacobs into firing on you…" He took deep breath; sounding like he didn't want to admit what he was about to say. "...but between that unexplained gunfire from behind us and the fact they had ammunition designed to be used on you specifically they appeared intent on giving us no other option from the beginning. However that doesn't justify completely annihilating the entire group, especially the ones who were retreating." He said angrily.

"And give them the chance to regroup and attack again?" Magneto asked calmly.

"They wouldn't have and you know it." Mustang growled as he walked up to Magneto and stood face to face with him, looking him in the eye with an unwavering glare. "They would have been too scared to come back and try again. Even if they weren't there would have been too few of them to be any sort of threat. Deadly force in self defense is one thing, but after that all you did was murder people who had no intention of fighting back, or were unable to fight back to begin with."

"Do you honestly think any of them would have had any hesitation of putting a bullet through your head if the situation was reversed and you or your comrades were the ones lying there wounded? Of doing the same to the unarmed and helpless scientists, or a civilian like Winry?" Magneto countered sharply.

"No I don't." Mustang answered, still angry. "But I believe in being better then that, of not lowering myself or the people I command to that kind of level."

"And I did not." Magneto replied, now sounding as angry as Mustang. "This was not the same as murdering the defenseless in cold blood. This was making sure a rabid animal was dead so it was no longer a threat. Either through orders, fear or revenge every one of those soldiers…"

"You don't know it was every one! There was no way you _could_ have known!" Mustang cut him off. He could tell the mutant leader was glaring at him for the rebuke but he didn't care. "You never once gave any thought that there might be ones that wanted no part of this, that might have been content just to run and not even look back."

"Colonel, I haven't lived this long by taking such foolish chances." Magneto answered coldly. Mustang's glare narrowed but Magneto pressed on. "Even if what you are saying is true, that there were ones against it. They should have either deserted or killed Jacobs before they even came face to face with us. That meant that they were willing to go through with what their commander wanted, regardless of their own conscience."

"Actually there was a very good reason for that." A new voice stated before Mustang could respond. Everyone still conscious snapped their attention in the direction the voice had come from. Juggernaut had no real reaction except to turn and look but Ed clapped his hands together in preparation, while Hughes drew one of his knives and motioned to throw it. Magneto and Colonel Mustang simply turned their heads and raised their arms. Mustang was ready to snap his fingers at a moments notice but Magneto was able to match him in the intimidation department since his hand was now glowing. The focus of their prepared onslaught were two men dressed in simple private's uniforms, both with their arms raised and out to the sides. "Killing Jacobs only would have been seen as a plot by these strange visitors and their State allies. The 801st would have become fully focused on the cause and any hesitation about what they were doing would have been diminished, to say the least." The shorter of the two men, one with dark hair and black-rimmed glasses, explained calmly in the face of all the violence aimed at him.

"Stop where your are and identify yourselves immediately!" Mustang ordered. Even though neither of them seemed to be armed he didn't need any more unpleasant surprises today. Both men did as ordered and stopped in their tracks.

"My apologies Colonel." The first man said. "After what's transpired you are entitled to some explanations. I am Major Howard Phillips, Military Intelligence, and my nervous looking assistant is Lieutenant Daniel Cain. We're here under orders of the Fuehrer himself to gauge exactly what the situation concerning the mutants has become and to provide any assistance we could."

"With only two men?" Mustang asked suspiciously. The fact he had referred to Magneto and the others as mutants and not alchemists told him the other man was at least fully aware of what was actually going on.

"Oh there where more." Phillips assured Mustang before glancing around the battlefield. "Unfortunately the rest of them were with the main group." Despite the risk involved Mustang turned his head and glared at Magneto, who didn't move. "Don't concern yourself with it Colonel, I not going to. In this type of business you have to accept the fact that you'll die without warning, if any of them didn't they shouldn't have joined up. No room for those who aren't fully committed." Turning back Mustang decided that he already didn't like this guy. He had just stated that not only did he not care that men under his command had been killed but that it was what they were there for to begin with. Then there was the fact that the had survived, and that meant…

"That gunfire in the woods behind us. That was the two of you back there wasn't it?" Mustang asked. He knew the answer but there had to be details he was missing.

"Along with one very dead sniper." Phillips confirmed. "I don't know who exactly he was supposed to kill but since the mutants were too valuable to bring back dead I would have to guess it would have been you and your subordinates. Much easier to explain the deaths of traitors then leaving potential loose ends." This time Magneto turned to look at Mustang, who didn't respond and kept his eyes on Phillips.

"You said you where here to help. How can you do that when there's only two of you?" The Colonel asked. Like him or not Phillips was the only viable link to Central they had now and any help he could provide, especially if it avoided another bloodbath like this, they needed to take.

"I have a set of orders straight from the Fuehrer himself that state that no one is to approach this facility or become involved in this project except for the ones already stationed here and those under my command." The Major explained.

"The chain of command didn't exactly stop Jacobs." Mustang pointed out. (Or whoever might be giving him orders.) He added in a silent challenge.

"No it didn't." Phillips admitted. "And when we were sent to intercept Jacobs' unit it was still under investigation if he was acting alone or not. I'll have to confer with Central just how much progress has been made, but if there is a conspiracy at work I believe it would be fair to say that a small setback like this won't deter them that much. And if it was only him you probably have seen the end of your troubles."

"But you don't believe that do you?" Mustang asked. "There's got to be more to it, even if it was only who was supplying the specialized ammunition."

"Jacobs was a good commander but he was never one for imaginative thinking, or for taking the initiative so boldly. No, he wasn't nearly intelligent enough to even remotely attempt a scheme like this and I believe there is definitely someone else pulling the strings." Phillips confirmed.

"So more like him will be coming." Magneto said. A statement, not a question.

"Unless they can be stopped yes." Phillips answered. "I can help you avoid that, if you'll let me." He addressed the last part towards Mustang. Despite the fact that they needed any help they could get Mustang was hesitant. First and foremost Phillips was the type that valued life as a cheap commodity. Second was the way he had refereed to Jacobs. True there was always rivalry between units but calling a superior officer, even a dead one, stupid in front of other superior officers showed that he was not the type to let a little thing like authority get in his way. Yes he personally bent and broke the rules but it was always for the greater good. He could tell Phillips would do anything and everything to further his own personal goals first, orders second, and any type of good would be a distant third. He was the type of person Mustang did _not_ want to even have under his command, let alone having a position of power above him, which Phillips technically did. Still, he couldn't just dismiss any type of help out of hand, especially someone who apparently had the Fuehrer's ear.

"All right." He finally answered, bringing his hand down. He looked over at the others and waited. Juggernaut remained impassive while Hughes, Ed, and even Magneto slowly lowered their own arms, the latter with the glow fading from his hand. He could tell everyone had reservations about working with Phillips, but at least they were willing to trust his judgment on the matter. He didn't know how long that would last with Magneto but he considered himself lucky the mutant leader was being so cooperative in the first place. ""However…" He added. "…You will be running stall tactics from this facility only. You're not going to bring anyone here, and you're not going to send anyone back. Not until this whole thing is over and done with."

"I appreciate it Colonel." Phillips responded as he and Cain brought their hands down from the surrender position. "But it would probably be in all of our best interests if I called in some more of my men. Spies might have already been able to infiltrate the town and the surrounding area. Even we were unaware of the sniper and caught him only by luck. If they manage to leave the area by a civilian train…"

"That particular problem has already been rectified Major." Magneto stated. Phillips became silent and everyone looked to the mutant leader for an explanation.

Several minutes prior:

When the train had first come screeching into the station only a few people had been present to witness it. Between that, the loud roars of tank engines and the sight of a long line of troops and those same tanks rushing towards the castle quite a number of townspeople had come down to the station to see what was going on. They were met be several squads of soldiers who blocked their path, with an officer in captain's bars telling them that they were here to capture a renegade group of State alchemists. Quite a few of them thought it was odd that they would need to send a small army for so few people but the captain's words had a 'believe this or else' tone to them, which was backed up by all the guns he and his men had ready to use. They had remained relatively quiet and motionless for several minutes when the first cannon shot echoed through the air. They jumped and the murmuring became louder but the Central troops remained unfazed, they had been told to expect something like this. That calmness and feeling of control lasted for only about several more seconds before all hell preceded to break loose. After that first shot came a volume of cannon blasts, explosions and gunfire that made it sound like a small war had started.

"Now everyone calm down!" The Captain shouted, just as much to his troops as to the even more anxious looking crowd. "We have the situation under control. This is why we brought everything that we did. It will be over in a minute, we'll have accomplished our mission and we'll be out of your hair before you know it. It'll be like we were never here." The crowd looked a bit apprehensive about the assurance they had just gotten but they weren't panicking yet either. Slowly the cannon and gunfire began to trail off and after a few sporadic pops it stopped completely. "There you see? Nothing to worry about. Now if you'll all return…."

BOOOOMM

The next explosion came without warning, not even a cannon shot preceding it. What was worse was that it sounded different from the ones they had just heard. That made everyone, including the soldiers turn to look in the direction it came from. What they saw was a column of black smoke rising into the air, and caught the first whiff of fuel burning. That meant that someone had just taken out on of their vehicles. The Captain was about to say that it was just one explosion when a second happened, then a third. Guns and cannon started sounding again but this time is sounded like random shooting, not the massed precise fire of a few moments ago. More and more columns of smoke sprang up and now even the civilian crowd was able to figure out what was going on. Something was wiping out the all those tanks and soldiers they had just seen arrive. And whatever it was seemed to be doing it with such ease that the ones guarding the train were starting to look panicked. That panic quickly spread to the crowd, which began moving.

"What's going on?" One man shouted.

"What the hell kind of alchemists are they fighting?" Another added.

"It's a matter of national security...!" The Captain started to say, not sure how effective that line would be.

"National security? What about _our_ security?" A woman shouted back.

"Your security is just as important." The Captain lied. "Once we take care of this threat…."

"What threat?" An older man cut him off. "The military has had guys here for a while now and we haven't had any trouble with em at all! They come down here every once in a while and they seem like a decent bunch, not any kind of threat. Everything was quiet until you showed up!"

"That's right!" A second man shouted. "If something was going on that was so dangerous why didn't they tell us?" He demanded. The crowd began shouting in agreement and moving forward.

"Get back!" The Captain shouted as he drew his pistol and pointed it straight up. "This is your last warning!" He shouted and fired his pistol into the air. In response all the train guards leveled their guns on the crowd. They halted and became silent. For a moment it looked like the situation was under control when the old man spoke again.

"So you'd rather shoot us then deal with that so called threat?" He yelled, pointing towards the smoke billowing from near the castle. "You're not here to help anyone! You're just here to kill somebody!" He accused.

"I said get back!" The captain shouted, this time pointing his pistol at the old man even though he hadn't moved. The old man backed up slightly but he had already given the crowd to much incentive not to trust them so he pulled the trigger anyway. At this short a range it would have been impossible to miss and the old man would have been dead, if the pistol didn't explode in the Captain's hand. Screaming in pain and surprise the Captain reflexively grabbed his wounded hand and saw that he had lost several fingers. He was so concentrated on the pain and trying to figure out what had just happened that he didn't notice the crowd had become motionless and silent.

"Sir!" The private closest to him shouted. Snapped out of haze he had been in the Captain turned towards the voice and was about to give the order to open fire when he saw all the soldier's rifles shift their aim towards the man in front of them and fire simultaneously. The only soldiers that didn't fire were the ones directly in front of and behind him. He was sprayed with blood from both sides and the bullets passed by him harmlessly but he saw he wasn't the only one who apparently got lucky. A single horrified looking private at the end of the firing line remained unharmed due only to the fact that no one was behind him to shoot in the first place. Turning around he saw that the same thing had happened with the troops on his right, including a second private that looked just as shocked as the first. As the Captain tired to make sense of what had just happened the rifle of the last solider snapped upward so the barrel was placed underneath his chin and fired. The Captain heard a second gunshot behind him and knew the same thing had happened with the other private but what was important was what he had seen. He had been watching the gun in case it was aimed at him and when the man had committed suicide his hand had been nowhere near the trigger. The gun had moved and fired itself on its own accord. That meant….

The shriek of metal being torn behind him kept him from finishing that thought and he turned around just in time to see a strip of metal ripping itself off the train engine and fly right at him. Before he could even think of avoiding it the metal had wrapped itself around his neck and started lifting him off the ground like a noose. He could breath, barely, but grabbed at the metal and tried to pull it off, kicking his feet as he was lifted higher.

"First you personally kill an old man in cold blood." A voice said from above him. The Captain stopped struggling and looked up and saw someone floating in midair dressed in a red and dark purple uniform. The stranger was looking down at him but other then his cape which floated in the breeze he made no movement. Like a horrifying elevator ride the metal wrapped around the Captain's neck brought him closer and closer until he was at eye level with the second man. Between his eyes being hidden behind the helmet he wore and his remaining silent for several agonizing seconds the Captain felt like he was looking at death itself. That was exactly what Magneto had been going for and once he saw the complete and total look of fear in the Captain's eyes he spoke again. "And then you order your men to fire into a crowd of equally defenseless civilians. That was what you were going to do, correct?" He asked, daring the Captain to even _try_ and lie to him. Even if he wanted the Captain couldn't respond, too frightened to do anything else but gasp for breath. "Your government must be very proud of you." He stated emotionlessly. He allowed the Captain only a second to take in the exact meaning of his words before tightening the metal band, crushing his windpipe and spine. As he watched the Captain's body fall to the ground he noticed the crowd had stayed through the entire thing and was now watching him silently. When he made no effort to speak with them the old man stepped forward.

"So you're one of those alchemists they consider such a big threat?" He asked.

"That depends entirely on how you define the meaning of the word threat." Magneto answered back simply.

"I think we can figure that out pretty easily." The old man answered looking at the Captain's body. He might not be able to speak for everyone, but enough of the people agreed with him. Magneto could see it in their faces and eyes. They were afraid of him, as well they should be, but they didn't curse, threaten or try to attack him. They would not look at him like a hero but they knew that the greater danger came from the ones who were supposed to protect them. Even if they did not like him he had shown that they should not dare cross him either, and that he wouldn't act unless they did. That one problem taken care of he turned around in midair to face the train the soldiers had been guarding.

"You may stay at your own discretion." He stated as he raised one of his arms. The crowd looked on in confusion for a moment before the train and all of its cars began to rise off the ground like they were being lifted by invisible hands. Magneto made a sweeping motion with his hand and the train responded in kind, flying as easily as it had been hurled like a grenade before landing with earth shaking crash of metal bending and snapping under the impact. That was impressive enough but as the crowd watched Magneto held out his hands to the sides. Underneath him the train tracks snapped and reared back like a taut string that had just been cut. Instead of flying back further the rails and spikes yanked themselves off the ground and shot skyward, coiling into balls that hovered just outside of Magneto's outstretched palms. As the crowd watched more of the track from both directions was ripping itself up and added to the growing balls of metal Magneto was forming. They continued to grow and grow until they were bigger then most of the houses, if not every single building, in the entire town. Finally the person behind it seemed to decide that it was enough, pushing the two enormous piles of scrap metal over the wreck of the military's train. Dropping his arms the metal followed suit, crushing several sections of the train flat and causing another artificial tremor that almost caused some of the spectators to loose their footing. Without another word he flew back towards the castle, leaving the civilians to gawk at what he had just done.

Now:

Magneto was getting annoyed looks from both Mustang and Phillips, more so from the Intelligence officer.

"And just how much track did you decide to wreck?" The Major asked him.

"Twenty miles in each direction." Magneto answered. "Not a permanent solution but one that should give us significantly more time."

"I hope you took into account that you've now completely isolated the entire town." Mustang stated. He had a hunch Magneto had but he needed to make sure, if for no other reason then to make it appear that he wasn't outright siding with the mutants and could lower Phillips' guard.

"I have." Magneto responded. "This town has enough supplies along with the ability to be self-sufficient long enough to last for several weeks without contact from the outside. Barring some unforeseen catastrophe it will be little more of an inconvenience then anything else and we will not be getting anymore unwelcome surprises in the meantime." He finished, making a point to keep his eyes on Phillips the whole time. So he didn't trust the Major at all either, good. At least that confirmed both of them were on the same page. The officer in question frowned slightly but gave no other indication of what he was thinking.

"I guess we'll just have to make due with what we've got." Phillips said casually, looking from Magneto over to Mustang. He made no effort to hide just what he meant by that sentence but neither Magneto nor the Colonel took the bait. "That being said I believe the most prudent course of action would be to pool our resources and devise a plan so that…. unpleasant incidents…like this wont be necessary in the future." He added, looking around at the carnage. "It would probably also be wise to organize a search for the X-Men as well. With my contacts I'll be able to get them to a location secure from whoever was commanding Jacobs." Instead of frowning or becoming angry in general like the Major had expected Mustang kept his face neutral.

"That's very generous but they're already moving to a secure location as we speak." The Colonel's voice didn't give anything away but Phillips could guess what he actually meant.

"It's good that you've thought ahead but in the time it would take them to get here they would be exposed to attack for long periods of time. And then there's the fact that this location, while secure and defendable, is known to the enemy. I can arrange a location known to only a handful of people, none of them involved with Jacobs, as well as a full escort to guarantee their complete protection." This was something else Mustang had expected to hear and had a full explanation ready to (politely) make clear that there was no way in hell that was going to happen.

"The offer is appreciated." A new voice stated, again making everyone's heads snap in the direction it came from. Walking out of the hole Juggernaut had punched in the castle wall was a man with red hair in a black uniform type of costume, with a bruised and beaten face and a yellow visor with a red line down the middle hiding his eyes. Behind him was a shorter man with dark hair wearing torn up and blood soaked clothing but not looking injured in any way. Unlike the first man's calm, controlled expression the second man's face was almost a scowl and showed he was ready to jump into action at a moment's notice. Next to the shorter man was a massive suit of armor with glowing eyes that seemed to fidget nervously now that all the attention was on him. "But we've always been pretty good at taking care of ourselves." The red-haired man finished.


End file.
